I have been in many situations where I have been stereotyped just because I played sports in high school and college, particularly football.  When in high school, I had a teacher who asked if I was on the team.  I repsponed politely and told her I did.  She then sighed and made a comment suggesting that she had already made up her mind on what kind of student I was.  To throw it back in her face a passed the class with an A and was one of the best students in her classes.

Being on a team, particularly football, you are categorized as being a dumb jock and can get away with everything.  It is unfortunate that this is the case, some of the best students can be athletes.  Even here at VMI I am put into a stereotype that we don’t go through the rat line like other BR’s.  If I was to tell the cold hard truth it was to be yes, we don’t go through the same hardships a regular student may go through.  In fact, I believe that our days can in fact be harder.  A regular rat does not lift four times a week, run four times a week and on top of that participate in any RDC events there may be that week.  Sure a regular rat could get yelled at from time to time, but it is even worse for those who are behind such as a football player.    There is much more behind the scenes for someone to cast judgement or stereotype a certain group of people.