Sandra Day O’Connor High School
25250 N. 35th Ave. Phoenix, AZ 85083
Volume 23. Issue 2. December 2023
thetalonohs.com
StudentsscoringforOHS:intheclassroomoronthecourt? By TRUE VAN DYKE
Editor-In-Chief
OHS is never short of talented athletes and rigorous students, the balance of the two something to be impressed by. Despite the variation, all student athletes eventually have to answer the looming question of which area in their life they choose to prioritize. The difference between a student athlete and an athlete student might be small, but can also be evident in the future paths of different OHS students across not just the school, but also their respective sports. “Student athlete; the student comes first, academics come first, and then obviously athlete student is the other way around; they prioritize their skills, abilities, and their sport,” said Charleigh Schuettler, junior, Rutgers University commit. The passion for school or one’s own sport is not always one distinct path or the other, but can typically be seen in varying gestures by both outsiders and peers. “Usually those athletes will
take not as hard classes, and they don’t really care as much about their grades,” Schuettler said, “Obviously you still have to have good enough grades to be eligible to play, but there’s definitely some motivation [differences].” School will never not play an essential role in every high school athlete’s life, but the effort demanded from those that choose to challenge themselves in every area vary greatly. “I realized that I couldn’t do both, it was just getting too much for me, and mentally it was just smarter to just give myself a break; I’m doing an easier load this year so that I can focus on swim and really lock in before college,” said Caelle Armijo, senior, University of Southern California commit. From the perspective of those that hold their sports to a higher standard than the classes they may take at school, athletes can also see the differing levels of effort within their team environment. “You can tell when someone doesn’t care as much about basketball, but it’s also important for them to be focused on school,” said Blake Colvin, senior. As much as high schoolers may like to give a hundred percent of their effort in every area of their lives, ultimately one can only give
PHOTO BY TRUE VAN DYKE Jason Cullum, senior, keeps his eye on the ball from the corner of the court.
so much before it starts to wear “It takes a lot of planning, I on both their mental and physical use an agenda and calendars, but health. school comes first; I make sure I “You always have to have a get all my homework done, even if balance; my coach always tells that means doing it on the car ride me you have to have a balance to practice or staying up late, I have between your sport, your social, to get it all done,” Schuettler said. and your school life, and you OHS and its athletic program can only give into two at a time,” is not the only domain for Armijo said. athletic talent and sportsmanlike While the level of courses taken competition. in school can be a differentiating “If you play a sport outside of factor, the time allocated outside of school, it’s probably at a higher school between sports and social level than what you experience at activities can also be a large factor school, and so their commitment dividing student athletes’ priorities. and dedication to the sport is going
No such thing as a “Useless Major” By RUTH MIOC Features Editor
With college admissions season in full swing at OHS, upperclassmen not only deal with the struggle of getting into a university, but must also begin to select career paths. The unfortunate reality is that a great deal of young adults are abandoning their humanities majors for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) fields, even when they have utterly no interest in the subject matter. The notion of a useless degree has become popularized, and the stigma behind certain academic paths are consequently influencing student choices. “I do not think there’s such a thing as useless degrees because I never think
education is useless,” said Tracey Heath, counselor. The pursuit of a highpaying job directly after graduation is a primary reason students leave fields not based in economics or engineering. However, a relatively unknown fact is that non-STEM careers catch up financially in the long run. “Sometimes people are choosing majors that they don’t necessarily want because they want to make the money,” Heath said. Unfortunately, lowincome students are disproportionately affected when faced with the stress of choosing a profession. They need more than the automatic merit scholarships universities may offer and cannot afford to graduate with student loan debt. “I would never want
students to not go to college and pursue their dreams because they can’t afford it... all of us in the counseling department really push students to look for private scholarships. There’s so much access to them, there’s millions and millions of dollars to be had in scholarship money. Students just need to look for it,” Heath said. If students are unsure of what they are truly good at, and how to apply that in the future, the counseling office offers effective career tests. “We actually can see it right in their faces when they’re taking the test. I have found when we give those career tests, if they answer the questions honestly and thoughtfully, it does get some students thinking about it,” Heath said.
to be a lot greater,” Schuettler said. There is a lot that goes into the range of youth in sports, and what defines their priorities–a battle between talent, time, and the future. The level of competition and commitment is a rollercoaster of variation, all crammed underneath the title of “student athlete”. “If you’re doing a sport, that’s not just going to carry to college all the way; nothing is guaranteed, like you could have an injury, [so] it’s still important to keep grades up, but you should still pursue your sport more,” Armijo said.
Page 2 Page 4
Page 5