Laurie Bollig

Back to school! The new academic year means a whole new look at what’s right about college sports

by Laurie Bollig August 17, 2011 in Women’s Soccer

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Freshmen are arriving on campuses across the country over the next few weeks, ready to begin a new chapter in their young lives. And seniors are moving back into familiar dorm rooms or apartments and falling back in to the same routines they have developed during their collegiate careers all the while knowing that a new chapter in their lives will soon begin. There’s comfort in knowing that while some things change, other things stay the same.

As a Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award staff member, the comfort is in knowing that as of today, when 60 candidates are announced for the men’s and women’s soccer award, the country will get to meet 280 of the best and brightest in NCAA Division I college sports. We read through hundreds of nominations each school year in the 10 sports in which this award is given. To select just 20 or 30 per sport to be candidates for the award is almost impossible. The stories are just too good.

Soccer players already immersed in their biology major, researching cures for diseases. Volleyball players building houses for those less fortunate. Football team members going on mission trips to foreign countries and creating instant bonds with children in those countries. And that’s just the fall sports. Along the way, we will meet incredible basketball, hockey, lacrosse, softball and baseball players too.

It’s tempting to read only about the athletes who make the news for all the wrong reasons. It’s uplifting to read about the stars who, through humility and gratitude, choose to make a difference in their communities and on their campuses.

Enjoy the 2011-12 school year. It will be worth your time getting to know the candidates, finalists and winners of the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award.