Lynette Obika’s Post

Learn more about the advantages of being a student-athlete in college, and how these will be great assets in the future! Our brilliant Recruitment Associate on the Nordics team, Tim Bernhardsson, earned his bachelor’s degree in business management while playing for the men’s soccer team at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton ⚽️☀️🌴👨🎓 Check out his thoughts on the benefits of becoming a student-athlete here: https://lnkd.in/dbw25QbQ #WhatsYourJourney

Why It Matters:

Week 2 of my Duke Men’s Basketball: Race, Sport & Education is in the books! I absolutely love teaching this course. I created it to think deeply just how much Duke Men’s Basketball over the last century is filled with racial questions and histories. For example: What does Tobacco Road mean? Who performed the labor? Why did Jalen Rose call Grant Hill and other Black players “Uncle Toms”? Why are we enfactuated with the “White Villain” on Duke’s teams? What is Duke’s integration story? There are many more. What questions do you have about Duke Men’s Basketball? The students are dope too. Most of them are Duke Men’s Basketball fans, Cameron Crazies, tenters, and walking encyclopedias on Duke Basketball. They take it serious and add to the discussions. Also, the Men’s basketball players add so much to the class because it’s about them! Their engagement is essential to the course because most times they are talked about and talked at. I want them to speak for themselves about what their talent allows. #duke #dukembb #raceandsports

Speaking to Joe who is committed to UCONN⚽️, left me so much more impressed than I could’ve imagined. 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐲… When I heard from Jeff Grossman he gave me a good humble run down of his sons journey too committing too University of Connecticut for soccer. Here’s the thing. I’m lucky enough to work with a lot of young athletes. Every journey truly is different. Thats what makes it special. 𝐉𝐨𝐞’𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞. He’s a High School student who when offered the opportunity to leave home and play his senior year of High School in Miami, he jumped on it. The decision was a tough and stressful one for a 17 year old kid. He highlighted how important his support system was in being there for him. Imaging leaving home, friends, family. By your own choice. In High School. Everything he’s ever known. So I had to ask, 𝑾𝒉𝒚?  His answer is where it started to become obvious to me on why he was successful already and WILL be moving forward. Joe talked about understanding the importance of accepting challenges. To get where he wants to be. He realizes that his opportunity to maximize his potential is now. That starts with competing against the best of the best. With Joe’s willingness to never give up, whether that means overcoming injuries, throwing himself into the top competition, accepting an offer to compete right away at a Big East Soccer program. He’s up for it. One of my favorite quotes from our talk was “ This is my goal, Im going to get it no matter what. Just let me go and do it.” For anyone going through this process or with children hoping to play at the next level. 🎧Take a listen to Joe. He’s a great example of what it takes to get there. The drive, determination, and clear willingness to take the challenge on. His journey is going to be a great one! #athlete #NCAA #Soccer #inspiration

Born Winners! Boys have an innate obsession of winning. This is why every challenge whether big or small is taken upon as an invitation to compete to overcome! Simply put compete to win. To win something as small as bragging rights or peers attention to as large and significant as 1st prize in athletics or Academic competition. Suppressing or belittling this urge in a boy is similar to telling him not to become himself or telling him to downgrade his masculine essence. The best way to harness their competitive energy is to channel it to meaningful activities that will produce results worth celebrating e.g. Becoming the best at helping others succeed, Understanding a difficult subject or skill etc.

This will be interesting to see how it plays out 10 years from now.

What do I do for the Marketing Area? Under the guidance of the marketing area chair Mohammad G. Nejad; I help direct and produce videos, graphics and content. This is part of my job as content manager of the Marketing Area Linkedin page. Amelia Semler was my graduate student who created this beautiful video and many graphics in the last year. #Teamwork #ContentManager

Duke University may be the most hostile place to play basketball in the country, but you won't see the court stormed after a win. Even a buzzer beater over Carolina keeps the fans in the stands unless it is the National Championship Game. It's not due to physical obstructions or the hilariously undersized yellow rope a few security guards hold up to guide fans to the exits. It's because Duke expects to win every game. On the other hand, the court gets stormed every single time Duke loses an away game. When fans storm a court, it shows exactly what happened: they got a lucky one in and managed to beat a better team. Coach K talks about the difference between standards and rules. Rules come down from someone with authority and bring punishment if they aren't followed. Standards come from within the team and are followed because it is expected. It's worth thinking about the standards you insist upon and how you respond to the expectations of those around you. Do you expect championships or are you content to revel in a single moment of victory over a more successful competitor? The answer determines how many of those wins you'll experience.

The importance of inclusion in the reporting of historic events, etc.. ☮️