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Okay college-bound baseball players, listen up. It may not seem like it right now, but this is incredibly important. Before you hurry off to your new college program at the end of the summer, there is a lot to do. You are no longer in high school, and your pre-enrollment checklist is your first taste of college responsibility. Believe it or not, completing your pre-enrollment responsibilities quickly and accurately will set the tone with your coaches when you get to campus. If you don’t believe me, know that your college coaches are using this as a test to see what type of student-athletes they have coming to campus.
You see, the pre-enrollment duties are about much more than just completing the pre-enrollment duties. They are a microcosm for attention to detail. The way you complete these duties will have a ripple effect on the the baseball program that extends well beyond what you may think. Here’s what happens:
When you don’t get the tasks done on-time, the support people and departments responsible for handling those duties on campus (housing, math or language placement, academic adviser, compliance officers, etc.) don’t receive the information they need on time. The direct consequences of your procrastination may be big (not getting the schedule you need) or small (general annoyance), but either way, you would be building the wrong kind of reputation. If your teammates join you in making it harder for staff in other campus departments to do their jobs, your coach is going to hear about it and the baseball program may not get the cooperation that it needs down the line.
So what does it really mean to get your pre-enrollment responsibilities done accurately and on time? It shows that you have respect for your new baseball program. It shows that you have respect for your coaches, and it lets them to focus their time and energy on things that will improve the team and your experience. It means starting the relationship with your new coaches off on the right foot. And above all else, it means doing the right thing and being a responsible player and person. When players finish pre-enrollment responsibilities on time, it improves the reputation of your baseball program around campus and demonstrates that your program respects the support people and departments that will make your college experience infinitely better.
There aren’t a lot of guarantees in college baseball, but starting your college baseball experience off on the right foot is a great start. So, when you get a laundry list of seemingly inconvenient and sometimes annoying pre-enrollment duties, do it on-time and thoroughly. The goodwill your effort creates will pay off down the road.
