Emily Mullins成人头条 State senior Logan Harpool considered himself an athlete when he came to college, not a scholar. But a change of mindset let him apply his competitive nature to academic pursuits, resulting in a higher GPA and a Bill and Dorothy Cohen Endowed Scholarship.
Now he鈥檚 published a book about his experiences called
鈥�(In the past,) I never thought that I would be able to do better, so I settled,鈥� says Harpool, a physical education major. 鈥淭hen I told myself that was not enough and I stepped it up and realized that I could do more.鈥�
Harpool, who competes in the extreme sport of obstacle racing, said the real reason for his change of perspective came from his mom. She asked him why he would push himself and train for hours to prepare for competitions, but wouldn鈥檛 apply the same work ethic to the classroom.
鈥淎t first I said, 鈥楳om, that鈥檚 completely different,鈥� and she told me it wasn鈥檛. I just had a bad attitude toward school,鈥� he says.
He decided to make changes and started viewing school as a competition in which an A was winning and a B was losing.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think I got all As, but it was night-and-day different from what I was doing,鈥� says Harpool.
Harpool says he hopes others can be inspired by his methods.
鈥淚 want to see people do more and push themselves and be motivated,鈥� says Harpool. 鈥淲hether they succeed or not, I want to see people motivated to not have a quitter attitude.鈥�
Harpool coaches middle school basketball and high school baseball in Newton and says his students get tired of hearing the 鈥渃ompete speech,鈥� but it is vital to success.
鈥淭he competitive attitude sparks everything 鈥� work ethic, mentality, perspective. It changes everything in terms of sports and the classroom,鈥� he says.