Change in the Air

            This week in the environment of the Multon Center more injuries became more prevalent to the eye. The Multon center was full of boots, ankle braces, crutches, and freshly done surgeries. So while student athletes who were not injured or not injured enough at practice the crippled remained in study hall trying to complete their hours early. Every time the door opened to study hall you either heard the noise of people coming in accompanied by the noise of crutches hitting the ground in sync with every hop or a boot accompanied by the noise of Velcro continually readjusting itself.

The frustration of being restricted by the precautionary measures wore heavy on each individuals face. There was not a team without an injured athlete, and even some teams had multiple athletes that were injured on it. In between coming down to study hall many of the student athletes would usually go to treatment upstairs either before or after study hall, to get the necessary treatment that they needed from their trainers, which was almost like another class, because it took time as well as commitment to going up their everyday or as needed. For the most part many students spent most of their time up at study hall and the trainers after they finished practiced, especially with the athletic advisors cutting down on the use of Pete’s passes. It could’ve been due to frustration of not being able to practice, or the amount of free time they now had, or even a combination of both.

Even students who were able to practice continually became ecstatic to finish their hours early for the week. It seemed that this week along with injury many students were finally getting how study hall worked. Student athletes were finally grasping how to effectively manage their time in class, practice, studying, and study hall, especially the freshman. Before this week it wasn’t uncommon to see students scrambling to finish their hours on a Friday 2 hours before the Multon center closed, but this week was extremely different. On average most students were finished by Wednesday and Thursday at the latest. There were little to none students in the Multon Center on Friday this week, except for a few, and the ones that were their were apart of a student organization.

In fact it was common for students to have more than the necessary amount of study hall hours that were required for them. Also this week more students brought snacks and drinks with them to study hall which in my opinion enabled them to focus better on their work, music was also a continuous factor in study hall this week. Conversations were not focused on the upcoming game this week, probably because this week’s game wasn’t home. Also conversations amongst student athletes and their friends weren’t as common either this week unless it was to ask a question pertaining to their week. In general study hall was rather quiet this week, in comparison to previous weeks. It could potentially have something to do with the fact that midterms were coming up, or simply because people were taking more responsibility of the work that was placed upon them and required amongst them as well.

            Also the monitors in study hall were not continually checking up on the students requesting them to be quiet and focus on their work as in past weeks. It was almost as if they weren’t needed except to swipe in the students and log in their hours. It was as if something was in the air this week.