Retired NHL star Brooks Orpik at the 2022 Commencement Ceremony. (Photo: Alastair Ingram, BC Athletics)
Brooks Orpik has two Stanley Cup titles and an Olympic silver medal to his name, but when he announced his retirement from the National Hockey League in 2019, there was one accomplishment still missing—a college diploma.
Like many of his teammates, Orpik cut his college career short to go pro, 2002年，三个赛季后离开波士顿大学，加入匹兹堡企鹅队. He’s never regretted the decision, but he also doesn’t like unfinished business, whether it’s on the ice or in the classroom.
“I always felt like it was hanging over my head,” 他说 recently. “When I don’t finish something it just kind of eats at me.”
So in the fall of 2020, Orpik became a student again, 作为2022届的一员被BC省伍兹高等教育学院录取. 他并不是唯一一个这样做的职业运动员:这要归功于迅速扩大的在线课程选择, and a support staff dedicated to helping athletes achieve their academic goals, 伍兹已经成为职业运动员在运动生涯各个阶段的必备资源.
“帮助那些学术生涯中断的人——无论是由于机遇还是其他情况——完成他们的学位是我们所做的事情之一, 所以我们当然特别渴望欢迎前电子游戏软件的学生——运动员,” said Woods College Dean Karen Muncaster, a nationally recognized leader in online education who joined BC in 2019. “Our team provides the flexibility and support that a working professional, or anyone with multiple responsibilities, needs when adding continuing education to the mix. We’re here to help them achieve their goals.”
Team effort
In September, NHL守门员斯宾塞·奈特与佛罗里达黑豹队续约3年，价值4美元.5 million per season. At 21, Knight is just two years into his professional career, which he began in 2020 after two standout seasons with the Eagles. But even though his future in hockey looks rosy, Knight is committed to continuing his studies at the Woods College, where he’s majoring in business systems.
奈特说:“在冰上、课堂上和生活中，不列颠哥伦比亚省给了我很多指导. "They feel like family."
“I started at BC and I want to finish at BC,” 他说. “Turning pro at a young age is a cool thing but nothing is guaranteed. I want to play until I’m 40 but if something happens? I’ll have this in my back pocket and I can use it and do good with it.”
奈特与不列颠哥伦比亚省的学习专家和学术顾问帕特里斯·博赞以及伍兹大学本科项目副主任萨姆·海密切合作，选择符合他时间表的课程. He typically takes only one class per semester while playing, in order to give it his full focus, and then doubles up in the summer, when his only team responsibility is to stay in shape.
“I’m getting it done at a good pace but at the same time, it’s not adding stress to my life,” he explained. “我正处于探索和学习不同事物的阶段，希望在我的冰球生涯结束后，我能拿出我的学位，说, “好吧, I know what I want to do now.’”
十多年来，对进入电子游戏软件的运动员的学术支持已经融入了大学的结构, 新生会被自动分配给一个学术协调员，帮助他们进行辅导, time management, and planning for the future. Bouzan, a 1991 alumna who has worked with BC athletes for the past 12 years, meets individually with first-year athletes on a weekly basis. With players like Knight, who are drafted before even stepping foot on campus, she helps them check off core requirements early, to make continuing their education at Woods as seamless as possible.
“我们的会议可能只有15分钟，但我们会检查成绩，他们可以问我问题——如果他们在旅行，不得不错过考试，我们会解决的。,” s他说. “我们的男女曲棍球运动员每年都参加世界锦标赛, so sometimes we’re rearranging finals, 只是帮助他们积极主动，为自己辩护，这样他们就能成功.”
布赞的办公室里装饰着与她合作过的运动员的剪报和纪念品，其中包括22岁的女子冰球明星凯拉·巴恩斯(Cayla Barnes)这样的奥运选手。她的门永远向那些寻求支持或安静学习场所的人敞开. This summer, Mike Hardman, 他在2021年与芝加哥黑鹰队签约，目前就读于伍兹大学, was a weekly visitor.
“I will help them in any way I can,” Bouzan said. “看到他们毕业真是太棒了——我们的办公室和足球场相连，我出去看比赛，球员们就给我发短信, “I see you!’”
Returning in person
伍兹的在线课程(目前有96门)已经改变了奈特等运动员的游戏规则, 这所学校以紧密的社区而闻名，它说服了退役的职业足球运动员鲁本·阿雅纳(Reuben Ayarna)在离开学校去海外工作15年后回到栗树山. These days, the 37-year-old is enrolled in classes like business ethics, digital marketing, and leadership and innovation, while pursuing a degree in corporate systems.
“这么多年过去了，回来感觉很奇怪——人们还记得你是谁，但你必须适应新的建筑, and the city has changed,” 他说. “The professors have been great. 我知道我想呆在教室里，因为这样我能学到更多——能够和同学们讨论，从我周围的人那里获得见解.”
“有同学在身边和我分享想法，而不是老师跟我说话，我学到了更多,” said Ayarna. (Photo: Lee Pellegrini)
Before his initial arrival at BC in 2005, Ayarna, who is originally from Ghana, had never set foot in the United States. 作为一名大学生，他保持低调，专注于足球，目标是成为职业球员. 现在他已经在瑞典和芬兰的俱乐部度过了成功的职业生涯, his approach to education has shifted, 他说.
“我的目标是有一天成为一家职业俱乐部的总经理或董事, so now in every class session I have a purpose,” 他说. “当我在上商业伦理课或数字营销课时，我会把它和我想做的事情联系起来. It’s become more practical for me than theory.”
For professional athletes, retirement comes at a younger age than in most industries, which often means an uncertain future. Ayarna与许多加纳足球运动员谈论了教育在足球之后建立有意义的生活中的作用. 为他, 教育一直是重中之重——他在比赛中获得了丹麦大学(University of Denmark)的体育管理学位——但在退役后，教育的作用就更大了.
“It’s not always about the classes, it’s about growing as a person by being around people every day, which helps with your mental health too,” 他说. “在学校里让你的大脑忙碌起来，帮助你进步，成为最好的自己.”
Mission accomplished
Before logging into Zoom for the first time as a Woods student, Brooks Orpik experienced a rare bout of performance anxiety. It had been 18 years since his last academic class, 他对自己写论文和浏览在线讨论区的能力感到紧张.
“I was thinking, 的男人, I’m going to be the 40-year-old in here with all these 20-year-olds,’ it seemed so overwhelming,” he recalled. “然后过了几个星期，你回头看，想知道为什么你这么担心.”
结果发现，奥普里克的同学是来自不同背景的各个年龄段的学生, and if they recognized the former Stanley Cup winner in their midst, they kept quiet about it until the semester was over. 在接下来的两年里，这位NHL球星一边上课，一边担任老鹰队的助理教练，并为华盛顿首都队的球员培养工作. In the spring of 2022, 他戴上学位帽，穿上学位服，准备穿过讲台去领取他期待已久的毕业证书, his two daughters watching from the audience.
“The feeling of pride I had was just so different than anything, athletically, I’ve accomplished,” 他说 afterwards. “I had promised a lot of people, 包括我的父母和(前不列颠哥伦比亚省曲棍球教练)杰里·约克，我将在某个时候完成. 我不知道我们是否想到要花那么长时间，但我知道他们很自豪.”
Alix Hackett | University Communications | November 2022