(S32) PT 1 - Mentor

[Troen]

A young relative of yours is determined to follow in your footsteps and become a professional athlete, despite the odds being stacked against them. Unfortunately, the headstrong individual has let their grades slip and their parents have asked you to talk some sense into them. What do you say to this aspiring athlete?

There's a couple points I can make here. First, working to improve your game more has diminishing returns. Putting in more time ends up just not being worth what you're getting out of it. So, it makes more sense to instead work on other parts of your life rather than just always sports. Second, academics are a way of demonstrating your intelligence to coaches. Professional game plans and training routines come with a lot of complexity, so doing well in classes can help show that you'll be able to keep up if you're on the bubble for making it to the pros. Third, what you learn in school will be with you your whole life. That's the education part, not the grades, but if you can't make it to good grades, then are you getting the education? There's a lot I learned in school that isn't super relevant to me now, but there's also a ton of stuff that I was sure was not going to matter that comes up in random places. I personally don't think obsessing about grades is important, but it's kinda the best proxy we have to show understanding of the material.