In this story, I interviewed two athletes on their opinion. The question I asked them was how school was making sports more interesting to them and why they felt interested in it. I also asked how it’s more fun to them, to really dig deep into how they felt.

The first student I interviewed was basketball player for Colton High School, Valentina Velarde. She responded with, “I think school makes sports interesting because school in general is something you need to educate yourself with. You know basic stuff, but sports just motivates me to try harder and get better grades. You know, before this, I never liked learning. I never tried but since I’m so dedicated to one thing I realized that I need to keep going and being on top of my school stuff in order to be in my sport. Especially scholarships, that motivates me to do good on the court and do good in school.” I understand Velarde when she talks about wanting to do better if she’s gonna pursue sports. She can’t just give up because it’ll ruin her chances of achieving her dreams and I respect that.

The second student I interviewed was a sophomore, Yessenia Ruiz, who swims for Colton High School. She told me, “School makes sports more fun because I feel like representing the school when I swim; and, for me, it honestly makes me try harder in school to keep my grades up because I wouldn’t want to stop swimming.” I find it interesting that Ruiz’s reason for sports is representing her school and I totally respect and honor that. I think it’s great that she wants to represent her school because you can tell she loves to swim and it’s fun for her, but she also has respect for the school making it interesting. It’s really important for students, not to only be interested and have fun while doing sports, but that the school is creating an environment for them to want to be there and making it so they feel like practice is a place they want to be at. I can’t stress enough how many students get their dreams crushed because school makes them feel like sports can’t be fun. But, as we can see with these two students, school is definitely being a guide and a help in their way to success.