I SOUGHT two things when applying to schools: excellent academic opportunities and Division I sports teams. When telling friends and family this, they often laughed at the apparent shallowness of my demands. "What, did you suddenly become a college athlete?" they would ask mockingly. Knowing my answer, they would respond to their own question, "Don't worry about the games your college plays. There are more important things to look at."
Call it a pet peeve, but I cringed each time this exchanged occurred. No, desiring big-time athletic events was not stupid of me. Too often we get caught up in evaluating the pragmatic value of our actions. It may be difficult to assess the tangible benefits of watching athletics, but who decided that sports are unworthy of our time and dedication? Spectating sports has serious value.
The university setting breeds an obsession with "practicality." Rarely do students stop to think, "What can I do to make myself happy?" It is always, "What can I do to benefit myself?" You would think the questions are one in the same, but unfortunately a skewed definition of "benefit" burdens us. Our actions only become "practical" if they are "beneficial" and our actions are only "beneficial" if they produce something material
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