Gabriella Ring
Michigan Wolverine, Sporty Woman
“Living Life with a Sports Lens:
How Sports Have Shaped Me”
As the first piece for my ENGLISH 242 class on Twenty Two Ways to Think About Sport, this essay allowed me to address how sports have shaped my life. I took a three-pronged approach to answer this question after having an a-ha moment in the brainstorming phase. I considered my relationship with sport as one that rested on a continuum that allowed me to parce out moments in my past, present, and future. My thesis states that, "Sports have shaped my life by teaching me about myself and who I am or what I ought to believe in. Through sport, I have learned where I am from, what I have, and where I might be going." I felt very strongly about the stories I included to illustrate these points. At this point in my writing career, my love for straightforward, clear prose is evident with this piece. Additionally, my topic sentences flow well into the development of the argument, and I effectively using transitions sentences to orient the reader to the flow of my thinking. Overall, I was extremely proud of this piece for how it got me to think about the tremendous value sports has added to my life.
“Making of the Green Role Model”
“Making of the Green Role Model” was my third and final paper for my ENGLISH 242. We were asked to interview someone who could give substantial content to the question, “How have sports shaped your life?” I immediately thought of Claiborne Green, one of the academic counselors I work with at the Stephen M. Ross Academic Center, and his experience as a college football player that I wanted to know more about. I argued that his early experiences growing up in the South playing football, and his education at an HBCU, allowed him to grow and develop who he ultimately is today. Once again, I am at ease in my prose for the pursuit of writing sporty, and I am able to exhibit my skills incorporating information from an interview into a profile piece of this nature. Compared to a profile I wrote on a sleep doctor in ENVIRON 320, I definitely enjoyed the process of writing this profile better because I had a personal connection to the interview subject. Once again, I feel as this piece demonstrates my love of all things sport and how fun it is to write on a sports-related subject.
“The Timeless Act of Cheating:
What the 1951 Army Cheating Scandal Tells Us About the Value of Integrity”
This piece for my EDUC 212 class on the History of College Athletics with John U. Bacon was a delight to write. The prompt allowed us to pick any topic related to the history of college athletics and pose a question or argument related to that topic. I chose to write about the 1951 Army cheating scandal because of my interest in the relationship between academics and student-athletes today. The paper required us to read a full book related to our topic and interview someone related to our topic to add to an extra voice as well. The main point I argued was that cheating is as old as time itself, and as much as we try to combat it and teach students that it is wrong, it will always be a part of the college and human experience. As a very morally minded person myself, I sought to insert my opinion after much of the evidence was presented to answer the “so what?” question a reader may have when going through my paper. After all, there have been plenty of cheating scandals before and after this one that I could have chosen to focus my paper on instead. I had an easy time incorporating elements of the book and other sources because of my deep interest and attention to the subject. As a piece written in the fall of my senior year, it felt empowering by the efficient ways in which I approached this paper and was excited about the whole evidence-gathering and writing process overall.
Other Sporty Writing:
Passion in Prose through "Sport and the University"
The following three pieces I wrote for two classes in Fall 2014 during the LSA Theme Semester, "Sport and the University." The first, ENGLISH 242, featured a guest speaker every class who lectured on sport in relation to their respective field, for example, a linguist speaking about language and sport or a financial adviser speaking about sport finance. The second, EDUC 212, focused on the History of College Athletics, a course Professor John U. Bacon has taught since Fall 2006. Both classes were a joy, and working on these pieces was equally rewarding. Click on the photo to download the piece.