Ron Thompson Jr.
Spm-101
8/3/12 My thoughts before coming to Syracuse were that the work would be extremely hard and that I wouldn’t be able to stay the course. Also before attending Syracuse University I thought that the workouts wouldn’t be as hard or the running would be this much. However, now that I’m here it’s the opposite the workouts are like going through war every day. I chose Syracuse over my home-town school University of Michigan. I did so because multiple reasons; one is how real the coaching staff was to me they didn’t feed me lies everything they told me I actually seen come true they weren’t about the games like most schools, the second reason was how much the tight-end position received the ball compared to other school that were recruiting me. The TE last year Nick Provo caught over 60 passes so I really wanted some of that love. My expectations about the personal responsibility is that I’ll have to do it all alone like with my work and studying but as I come to see is that Syracuse University has so much support they make you feel like you are supposed to be and that you are not in this game alone. I have learned that working with the negatives can make a better picture when turning them around into positives. Also that having good character is a big part of becoming a great student at SU. Another thing that stood out in this course is how being a leader takes hard work, dedication, even being able to follow as well. Based on my experience in this course you showed me that being a student is just as important as being an athlete. Also what I’ve took form this course is that fact that being in the back of the class with my teammates isn’t the best for me in fact not good at and that I need to be in font of every class paying attention. The skills that I’ve learned to succeed in this course were my writing skills it has improved every week and now I think I write pretty well. Other skills were my skills to stay awake even when I’m tired and to stay focused to get my work done. Also public speaking was another skill that I think I acquired from taking this course. This course impacted my social skills in a crucial way I never liked talking front of the class or even face with people but this course changed all that for me, such as I love talking and participating in class discussions now. From the first activity we did when we had to sit down face to face and tell our partner about our life for a minute straight has strengthened my conversation skills with my peers. I really took the leadership topic to heart because one day I will love to be an effective leader in the society, classroom, and the locker room. Being a leader speaks so much about me as a person n it will let the community know that I work hard I am humble, I do things the right way, and I am accountable for whatever I do. Also being a leader takes courage because not everyone will follow you and that may best discouraging but a leader well a good one has to just stay the course. My least favorite subject was when we discussed with the older students because it was just like they didn’t want to be there and was just doing it just because they were required to. There were so many awkward moments when you could hear a pin drop in the room because it didn’t seem like they were prepared and was just trying to think about things off the top of their dome but it didn’t work for. So there’s the subject that I think I least enjoyed about the whole course. I don’t think I was prepared for this course because I didn’t know what to expect. However, once I got going I started to get the hang of it and things went smooth from there. My preparation started to change once I knew what the curriculum was. Another reason why I don’t think I was prepared is the fact I was so ready to get here and play football I forgot about the whole class room aspect of college. I further developed my writing skills. I knew I need this skill to succeed in the