Bring Boxing Back to Academia by Justin

Bring Boxing Back to Academia by Justin - June 2025 Scholarship Essay

If I could pick one elective or extracurricular activity to be a required class, it would be a boxing class. To quote former World Heavyweight Boxing Champion Mike Tyson, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” As harsh as that seems in the world of academia, I think American novelist, Chuck Palahniuk has a very valid point when he wrote the iconic line, “How much can you know about yourself if you’ve never been in a fight?” This is true on so many levels, both literally and figuratively. It all comes down to our ability as humans to persevere through struggles in life. Often times, the “punch” or the “fight” concept is a perfect allegory for all kinds of struggles we go through on a daily basis. Boxing itself has found a resurgence in the United States and new generations of combat athletes are emerging to become better versions of themselves. If boxing is both added into public schools, colleges, and universities and made a requirement for graduation, then we will begin producing a new generation of young adults who have learned how to endure hardships, struggle through adversity, get up when you get knocked down, and a wide array of valuable life lesion that can only be learned in that environment. Learning how to honorably lose and humbly win are key components to building stronger adults. More than just an athletic combat sport, boxing provides character development and self-discipline which becomes transferable skills in adult work environments.
How much do you truly know about your own fortitude until you have truly struggled in life? Boxing is hard. It takes dedication, strict adherence to routines, and indomitable spirit to succeed. If more people were required to do this, we would build a much stronger generation of people with an unprecedented work ethic that has not been seen since the Greatest Generation in the early to mid-1900s. They would have true grit that would make even the grizzled Rooster Cogburn smile. Now apply that grit and determination to a focus on continuing education, and you have a recipe for academic success! Now is the time to cue the Rocky montage in your brain and have it ending with that ceremonial graduation walk instead of those dreary steps in the City of Brotherly Love.