Emma Gardner not going to college to train at CompTrain

[skelendke]

@grace4nan Paid opportunities to try and achieve your dream come around a lot less often than the opportunity to further your education. Realistically, if she wants to be a CrossFit athlete it's an easy decision.

 

[tommoody]

@grace4nan Good for her as long as she doesn't move into the Bergeron's house

 

[grace4nan]

@tommoody Is that you Heather?

 

[dawn16]

@grace4nan Honestly just do both, you have an enormous amount of flexibility and free time in college, enough to be a professional in this sport because it is not as time consuming as a team sport. She feels passionately about the decision because she is young and ignorant. I can literally feel the misdirected youthful vigor coming from her statements. BUT if her family and friends support it, then she will still be able to go when the time comes, which it sounds like she will most likely do.

 

[chantelle1989g]

@dawn16 List of people who did or do CrossFit during college includes some big ones.

• Pat Vellner
• Mat Fraser
• Brooke Wells
• Danielle Brandon

 

[laurentia]

@chantelle1989g Julie Foucher

Med School is no joke!

 

[dawn16]

@laurentia didn't she quit crossfit to focus on med school?

 

[laurentia]

@dawn16 She was doing both simultaneously, but did hang up competition to finish and to focus on residency.

 

[dawn16]

@chantelle1989g FWIW Pat and Mat both said that they felt like their focus on school held them back competitively. Mat said once he graduated is when he focused on training to win the Games. Pat's openly said that he knew that working FT and school would limit his ability to be as successful in CF as he could be and is okay with it. Brooke.... had that sweet, sweet mommy and daddy money to make it so she didn't have to work in college, AND got a really easy degree. Danielle was more focused on track in college, which is WHY she didn't make the games until after she graduated. Regionals was always during her track season and she could never go. Am I saying you absolutely can't do college PT or FT AND compete? No. But when these athletes have either openly said college is what prevented them from competing as hard as they'd like, or when they weren't having to deal with the struggles most college kids have, or weren't even competing in crossfit really until after they graduated, I do feel like that's something to remember.

 

[twinmama]

@dawn16 Absolutely, they would still have time for college part time, no problem. I think it's a mistake to completely not do it at all.

 

[dawn16]

@twinmama I think it would be a potentially advantageous decision if she showed much more promise, but she hasn’t proven much with the resources she already has had at her disposal.

 

[memrin]

@dawn16 Never have I ever had an “enormous amount of flexibility and free time in college”…. Never have I ever seen anyone have that. But maybe that’s because I’m in STEM.. arts might be different?

 

[dawn16]

@memrin Most people don't. Do you have more flexibility than, say, a job would allow? Sure. But college isn't exactly a cake walk, especially now with so many requirements to network and stuff to ensure success after academics.

 

[godgifts63]

@memrin I've definitely had significantly more free time and flexibility in university (did engineering) than I do full-time working. And I was a full-time student.

I could see doing college part-time being a pretty good compromise.

 

[memrin]

@godgifts63 Part time college would be pretty good tbh.
And really? I feel like I had way more time doing the normal 8/9-5 (40 hour work week) than school. Granted I bussed to uni and back 40 hours a month (2 hrs a day) while it only took me 15 mins to go to work… also my CrossFit gym was a 5 min walk away from my work

 

[godgifts63]

@memrin I didn't have a 2hr total commute in university whereas I do for work LOL... so that's where our differences are I guess.

It was only 1st year where I had a ton of lectures. 2nd, 3rd, and 4th year, I had less lecture hours such that I maybe had 2 to 5 hours of class a day MAX. I didn't spend too much time outside of lectures studying except for exams. And the time i spent studying/homework was flexible so I could swim, lift, etc for multiple sessions a day if I wanted to.

 

[dawn16]

@memrin No same if you have systems in place for studying. Having children and a job and balancing those things well will reveal how truly simple (not easy) college really is.

 

[nodu]

@dawn16 Had a child in college after I got out of the military. We were both students. I found time to work full-time, have a 3.98 gpa and have an above average workout regiment. If you have the discipline most things are achievable

 

[memrin]

@nodu Were you taking care of a child, doing school full time, working full time, and have an above average workout regiment on your own?

 

[nodu]

@memrin My significant other was also a college student and worked part time and had an above average workout routine.

Our days were long and sleep was definitely lacking during this period, but we did it.

Planning out our schedules and handing off the kid between classes, and work was complicated as fuck. Our CrossFit gym at the time had childcare so that part was the easiest.

It was very much a complex team effort. We also were on the other side of the country from my family and her family lived 3.5 hours away so we never had any outside help