5 Reasons Why Ledecky Is Smart to Go to College

Charles Hartley, a free-lance writer based in New Jersey, has written more than a thousand published sports articles. He earned Master’s degrees in Business Administration and Journalism. In addition, he was awarded his Bachelor’s degree from Wake Forest University where he majored in English and Communications.

Rather than collecting millions of dollars in endorsement deals and sponsorships riding the wave of her four Olympic Gold Medals, the world’s sweetheart of swimming, Katie Ledecky, has decided to attend Stanford University this Fall.

This is risky. In four years when the next Olympics roll around, she may not win as many Gold Medals, or may get injured and not be as great as she was in Rio’s Olympics. If that happens, the endorsement deals may not be as lucrative. They may even evaporate.

Millions of dollars – gone. Tempting to take, tough to pass up.

She could turn professional now, haul in the millions, keep swimming, and not have to worry as much about how well she swims at the 2020 Olympics. The money will already be hers and set her up comfortably for the rest of her life.

Unlike most of us, she wouldn’t have to work at a job 40-80 hours a week to afford groceries and go into serious red paying college tuitions.  She could travel the world, hang out, and basically not worry much.

A life-time of riches notwithstanding, Katie has still made the right decision – not just the right decision but a smart and splendid decision — to go to college.

There are at least two dozen reasons for this. I’ll focus on five.

One: Football tailgate parties

These are fast becoming the most fun thing to do in America on Saturdays in the Fall. They’ve always been pretty good, dating back since football began many decades ago. But they’ve become more boisterous, organized, and well-attended. The food is better. Katie will be able to go to the parking lot outside Stanford’s football stadium on Saturdays and hang out with her friends.

There will be barbecue chicken wings, potato salad, music blaring from van and truck sound systems, corn hole games, at least one Frisbee, and probably some Stanford jerseys and pennants and maybe the school’s marching band will play a few tunes.

College students will permeate the parking lot. Every one of them will be out to have a good time, take a blow from studying, and get stoked to watch the Cardinal squad get a victory inside the stadium later that day against Cal Berkeley, USC, Washington or the like. In other words, the party doesn’t end when the tailgate does; it continues for three more hours in the stadium. It’s even becoming fashionable in recent years for the tailgate to reconvene after the game, making for one whole day of joy. More tailgating is always a good thing.

Two: Multi-dimensional, interdisciplinary, pedagogical intellectual stimulation

College is all about stretching one’s mind, connecting the dots between psychology, sociology, anthropology, physics, physical education, chemistry, biochemistry, theatre, art history, music history, modern drama, interpersonal communications, forensics, astrology, astronomy, marketing, advertising, supply chain, entrepreneurship, microeconomics, macroeconomics, statistics, finance, monetary theory, and higher-level math.

There is no other place but college where you get the time to take all these classes, learn about all these seemingly disparate academic disciplines, and try to piece them all together like you would a jigsaw puzzle for geniuses.

It’s the ultimate challenge to figure out these multi-dimensional and highly layered intellectual concepts, most I which are abstract as opposed to tangible an therefore easier to grasp. I think Katie, who has proven she’s unafraid of challenges in the pool, will enjoy tackling all this at much as, and possible more than, swimming world records.

Three: opportunity to ask unlimited number of questions

In college Katie will be free – in fact encouraged – to ask questions in any of her classes. It is rare when a professor tells a student to stop asking so many questions. That only tends to happen in the professional arena, such as to Swimswam writers who write articles with mostly questions and no answers.

She will be able to pose queries not only in class but afterward with her professors during office hours. The questions can be along the same lines as those she asked in class or ones that drill down on another part of the coursework or go off on tangents. College is so wide open it will even be acceptable for her to ask a professor, in his or her office, about some things unrelated to the class such as “why is Stanford called Stanford?” and stuff like that. More often than not the professor will try to answer her no matter her question. This is the essence of the college kaleidoscope.

Building on her pleasurable quest for knowledge, Katie will be able to go back to her dormitory and ask her roommate more questions such as “because you’re from Idaho, did you eat a lot of potatoes while growing up?”
Professional life, albeit the place where millions of dollars can be pocketed, is more about taking orders than asking questions and off-topic ones  aren’t tolerated for very long. Taking orders, the essence of professional existence, is not as much fun nor as liberating as asking countless questions.

Four: oceanic respites

Stanford’s campus is a short car ride from the Pacific Ocean. When she’s bored with training in Stanford’s pool, she can churn through eight daily miles in the deep sea. This will bring more variety to her training and prevent her from finding the training too monotonous in the same old pool in the same old lane.

The beautiful scenery of the Pacific Ocean will be restorative and enlivening to her soul, both of which will be good for her. Nice visuals are soothing for everyone even those who don’t swim or live near an ocean.

Five: non-specific campus parties

Anyone who has ever been to college has learned that parties on college campuses tend to be above average. There is a free vibe about them. Katie will be able to walk into and out of just about any party on campus and feel welcome. And it won’t just be because she’s the world’s fastest female swimmer.

She will be embraced simply because she’s a Stanford college student. Most college parties are open affairs with very little planning involved. They have vague start and stop times. They’re open-ended. No one gets too uptight about what anyone wears. There is a lot to like about relaxed plans, open-endedness, and loose time schedules.

There is nothing professional about them. And that’s worth more than millions of dollars.

You made a great decision, Katie.

Tailgate.

This is courtesy and written by Charles Hartley.