Students attend basketball game, get life lessons

January 20, 2015 4:11 pm

Hundreds of students packed into the Pizzitola Center at Brown University Tuesday morning. The kids were there to watch a women’s basketball game, and more importantly to think about their future.

The theme of the day was using athletics to focus on academics. Nearly 1,000 elementary and middle school students from across the area cheered on the team during “What I want to be day.”

“My goal is that they just really see that they can be anything they want. They can reach out for any dream– anything’s possible in their life,” said Donna Morris of the Hannaford School in East Greenwich.

Industry professionals spoke to the boys and girls about their jobs and the importance of applying themselves now for a better life later on. The students promised to give their future careers a lot of thought.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do, so it’s nice to see what other people do and what I could get interested in,” said Jordan McBride, a student at Mercy Mount County Day School.

In addition to the career advice students were also shown team work, and sportsmanship from their new role models on the court.

“For students, if they can see both the academic and athletic side and we can encourage them to be parts of both it’s a win for everyone,” said Jack Hayes, Athletic Director at Brown.

The university has been hosting this event for at least the last three years. They invite all local schools to attend. The crowd gets bigger each time.