Blog of Andrew Szymborski VMI

[vmikeydet20]

Wrestling at Crown Point HS under coaches Scott Vlink and Jake Rodriguez definitely was an experience that I cherish. Although the practices were grueling, I wouldn?t be where I am now without the dedication of my coaches to make me better a wrestler. They helped me work towards a 5th place finish my Junior year, a 3rd place finish at Folkstyle Nationals, and a 3rd place finish at High School Junior Nationals. Choosing a school like Virginia Military Institute was a hard decision to make. A thing that hurt me when other schools recruited me was my grades. I only had a 2.9 GPA, which wasn?t horrible but not too great. So, I give you the advice that if you?re trying to be recruited get your grades up. The reason I chose a school like VMI is because of the alumni support after college to get a job, my asst. coach Chris Skretkowicz being an excellent choice for a practice partner, and for the discipline that I would be taught here. People thought that I was crazy to go to a military college, but I?m glad I made the decision to come here. Also, if you go here you don?t have to commit to the military, which is great because I don?t want to commit.

 

              Being a student/athlete here at a college like VMI is tough. I?m always busy doing something. For example, I?ll be studying; practicing; working out; and doing military stuff 24/7. My first semester at VMI was a tough experience to go through, but wrestling has made me mentally tough to overcome it. The first semester here is somewhat of an initiation into the school, where you go through various mental and physical things that wear you down. But being in shape for wrestling made that pretty easy. I?m majoring in Biology, which who would have thought with science being my toughest subject all through high school.

 

A typical day for me consists of this schedule with the addition of some military stuff every now and then:

7am Breakfast Formation

8-11am classes

11am cardio/workout

12 pm lunch

1-4pm class

4-6pm practice

7pm Dinner formation

8-10pm study hall

10-1130pm free study time

11:30pm Bedtime

 

Wrestling at the division 1 level has definitely been an experience thus far. Everyone seems to be on top of their game, so you have to work that much harder to get better. Although wrestling wore me out, it was my safe haven away from the vigorous activities of the Ratline. I looked forward to going practice most everyday to get away from people yelling at me. From my experience so far I have learned that technique is so important. The most little things can affect your ability to compete with tough competition. Right now, I am just preparing myself for the Southern Conference Championships. Well, that?s all from me for now.

 

Andrew Szymborski

Virginia Military Institute

[Fabio Jr.]

NIce post man, did u RS this year?

[Drooke]

Thanks for posting Andrew I really enjoyed some insight into VMI.

 

That is an institution that I'm not familiar with at all.

 

Im looking forward to reading the next installment.

 

With a degree in Biology are you looking at doing some post-graduate studies?

[nkraus]

nice post, i was not too familiar with vmi either

[vmikeydet20]

No, I currently am starting at 174 for the keydets. I'm 10-12 on the year.

 

As far as the Biology goes i either want to become a teacher, go into the fbi, or go to medschool

[KarlHungus]

Andrew,

 

What exactly is the Ratline??

[clive2246]

I'll let Andrew explain what being a Rat is . When he would call and say he had to go to a sweat party I asked what it was and he told me to check one out on youtube. Then I cried.....

 

This is a short video clip of a "sweat party"

 

[Disco]

No, I currently am starting at 174 for the keydets. I'm 10-12 on the year.

 

As far as the Biology goes i either want to become a teacher, go into the fbi, or go to medschool

 

HMMM..... Brains? You take after your dad... huh? Just guessing

Keep up the hard work, and keep us posted , really interesting.