"Don't wait for your ship to come in - swim out to it"
“Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don't recognize them.”
Some may wonder why so many foreign athletes come to the United States for college and being a foreign collegiate athlete I can explain why. The main reason the United States attracts many foreign athletes is because schools can combine academics and sports whereas in many other countries secondary schools are only academic based and athletes have to travel to another location for practices and contests. If I would have stayed living in Sweden, post high school, it would have taken me one hour to ride public transportation to get to my university and then another hour to get back to my hometown and from there another thirty minutes to get to practice. Attending Wayne State University and swimming here it only take me 5 to 10 minutes to walk to class and another 5 to 10 minutes to walk to the pool which allows more time to spend on other activities and commitments. Many foreigners seem to be attracted to the least popular American sports, such as: swimming, fencing, tennis, and women´s ice hockey compared to football, baseball, and basketball because it is not as common in our countries as it in the United States. Of the least common American sports mentioned, 35.7% are foreigners at WSU. On the swim team alone 25% of the team is foreign.
College swimming in the United States is a great opportunity for you to seek an interesting experience to combine what you love the most, sports, and what you might not like as much, your academic work. Foreigners have the biggest opportunity to grow as a person because they have to live by themselves in a country they are not familiar with on the other side of the world. Like my dad said after my recruiting trip to Arizona State University, “You have worked for this since you were six years old, I am proud of you, and you finally get paid for all of your hard work you have put down during the years.” If you want to get a lot of attention, swimming might not be the sport for you unless you are among one of the top competitors.
Some may wonder why so many foreign athletes come to the United States for college and being a foreign collegiate athlete I can explain why. The main reason the United States attracts many foreign athletes is because schools can combine academics and sports whereas in many other countries secondary schools are only academic based and athletes have to travel to another location for practices and contests. If I would have stayed living in Sweden, post high school, it would have taken me one hour to ride public transportation to get to my university and then another hour to get back to my hometown and from there another thirty minutes to get to practice. Attending Wayne State University and swimming here it only take me 5 to 10 minutes to walk to class and another 5 to 10 minutes to walk to the pool which allows more time to spend on other activities and commitments. Many foreigners seem to be attracted to the least popular American sports, such as: swimming, fencing, tennis, and women´s ice hockey compared to football, baseball, and basketball because it is not as common in our countries as it in the United States. Of the least common American sports mentioned, 35.7% are foreigners at WSU. On the swim team alone 25% of the team is foreign.
College swimming in the United States is a great opportunity for you to seek an interesting experience to combine what you love the most, sports, and what you might not like as much, your academic work. Foreigners have the biggest opportunity to grow as a person because they have to live by themselves in a country they are not familiar with on the other side of the world. Like my dad said after my recruiting trip to Arizona State University, “You have worked for this since you were six years old, I am proud of you, and you finally get paid for all of your hard work you have put down during the years.” If you want to get a lot of attention, swimming might not be the sport for you unless you are among one of the top competitors.
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