Myron Rolle is a football star at FSU who graduated in 3 years and finished near the top of his Pre- Med program. In addition, he became a Rhodes Scholar and had his final interview on the same day as an important football game. Having been a fan of sports in general, I sometimes read biographies or short stories in the NY Times and other sports publications. This story is unique because Myron Rolle has the ability to play football professionally, yet he also has a very strong academic background. This example is almost similar to balancing a rigorous academic lifestyle in addition to playing on a varsity sport but to a higher standard.
In addition, Harvard basketball player Jeremy Lin is also someone who balances sports and academics very well. Jeremy Lin has the academics to make a top college such as Harvard but also can be the first Asian American to play in the NBA. When I think about how these people, young people in fact, balance the two areas so well I am at a loss of words. I only know that if one pushes themselves to excel, they can excel at many things in life. Myron Rolle himself said that he decided to play football and finish Pre- Med because he saw it as a challenge and wanted to know if he could achieve it. In the end, he decided to skip the NFL for a year and study at Oxford. This act speaks volumes for the character of Myron Rolle and where his priorities are.
While these examples are extreme cases and not the norm, I feel that people who see stories about athletes or people who excel greatly in many facets in life only benefit from them. People realize that things that may look hard to achieve, can be done. Sometimes people are able to achieve these things in life because they work hard to prepare and they persist.