The University of Findlay - Making the Grade with Winning Words

Don Collins, assistant professor of psychology and academic counselor for student athletes, has spent more than 20 years helping students learn how to balance their studies with their athletic commitments.

During a recent sabbatical, Collins explored ways to motivate student-athletes in their academic courses by using athletic terminology. Academic excellence for studentathletes is a goal that is strongly supported by the coaching staff, Collins noted. “We’re very proud of how well our student-athletes are doing. Still, there Don Collins

are some who struggle, and that’s my focus,” he said. Findlay’s student-athletes had an average GPA of 3.2 for fall semester 2005, with 41 having a perfect 4.0.

While athletic competition is a valuable learning experience for student-athletes it also requires a major commitment of time and energy on the student-athlete’s part. As a part of his research, Collins selected 21 highly successful athletes and coaches to interview, with 19 being Findlay grads or coaches. He said he was looking for motivational sayings, analogies or metaphors that would resonate with athletes.

His research found more sayings, which he called “good pieces of advice.”

Don Collins, assistant professor of psychology
and academic counselor for student athletes

Collins concluded from his interviews and research of professional studies that
motivation, commitment and persistence are the three most important variables in athletic or academic success.

Of all the sayings, Collins said one of the strongest was, “Yes, I can.” This simple self-affirmation was contributed by Charlie Parker ’72, a former assistant basketball coach at Findlay College who is now assistant coach for the Dallas Mavericks.

A similar sentiment was expressed by Dean Pees, former UF assistant coach and now defensive coordinator for the New England Patriots, with “If I have the will to do it, I can do it.” “If you don’t have high hopes, you will be average,” was a motto that took Miron Kharchilava ’95 to the top as the Soviet national wrestling champion and then as NAIA national champion.

Mark Bishop ’01, NAIA All- American in basketball, accepts no excuses and no whining with “Don’t tell me how rough the waters are; just bring in the ship.” Persistence expressed as “Don’t give up; keep pushing,” was mentioned by Maria Newcomer Gleason ’90 and Lisa Hallock Evans ’93, both of whom were NAIA All- America Scholar-Athletes in cross country and indoor track, as well as athletic All-Americans in indoor track.

Collins has presented his findings to various groups on campus, and he plans to submit an article to the Academic Athletic Journal, which is published by the National Association of Academic Advisors for Athletes. “We can accomplish a lot more,” Collins mused, noting that often people sabotage their own efforts. By using the sayings in his counseling, he intends to put academic challenges in a context where struggling student-athletes can apply the same attitudes that make them successful in sports.

This story was featured in the Winter 2006 issue of the Findlay magazine. To read other stories from this issue, click here.