The Wasted Potential of University Students
By Conor Mallon
Sarah Reed/Getty Images
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. [1]
The final stanza of Robert Frost’s 1916 poem is open to multiple interpretations. This stanza represents life’s pivotal and irreversible decisions. In Peter Weir’s 1989 classic Dead Poets Society the poem is used to inspire the students of Robin William’s Mr Keating to reject conformity and forge their own path in life. [2] It coupled with the infamous, central to the film, Latin phrase Carpe Diem, is intended to motivate the students of Welton Academy to reject populism and to maintain a bittersweet outlook on life of preserving no regrets and having a confident outlook on one’s own life decisions. This is however a gross misinterpretation of the classical poem. The poem is rather more about the inevitability of regret and the necessary human need to justify one’s decisions to oneself.
“Organized sport participation trends indicate that 50%–70% of youth in Westernized nations participate in sport programs, yet roughly 35% of participants leave youth sport programs annually.” [3] Sports are an integral part of many a juvenile life however the decision to embark upon a sporting lifestyle is not. A child is typically sent to sporting organisations and events by their parents as an attempt to encourage a healthy lifestyle physically as well as foster meaningful friendships and relationships from an early age. Sports coupled with schooling are our very first introductions to hierarchies in which power levels alike future employment exist. Sports teach us teamwork and respect, aspects pivotal to the corporate ladder of success. Sports with schooling force an individual to facilitate their basic human needs. In Abraham Maslow’s 1943 paper A Theory of Human Motivation, he depicts a five-tier model of necessary human needs that businesses must provide to ensure maximum output from their employees. [4] One of these needs is the human desire for love & belonging. As humans, we crave community, we thrive on family, friendship, romantic relationships etc. When an individual becomes part of a collective it provides their life with increased meaning and provides an adequate response concerning questions of identity and confusions around individualism.
Youth sport provides its players with a community that they feel a part of; a place in which they feel accepted. However, the individual needs of human beings change as time moves on. Sports are intended to unite all whilst also being seen as separate from politics. It is impossible to keep mainstream media from being political. Every zeitgeist of every epoch should be used for positive political progress. Sports, however, are enshrouded with individuals who yearn to separate the personal from the political. These individuals allow for negative ideologies to prosper in sport. Taking soccer as a base example for sport, the male game is rampant with xenophobia. Racism, homophobia, sectarianism, and general hatred dominant the discourse. In 2021 Joshua Cavallo became the first professional male footballer to come out as gay while playing top-tier football and as a result received death threats on a near daily basis after this decision. [5] Former Northern Ireland international and current Dunfermline manager Neil Lennon withdrew from international football following a series of death threats concerning his Catholic faith in 2002. [6]
As children progress to adults, they gain a sense of autonomy and individuality separate from their parents, separate from their friends, from institutions, from the inhibitions of the past. They like every human being afforded basic human rights gain the right to self-expression; to practice their own beliefs however they please. This newfound freedom causes a clash with the claustrophobia of sport. This expression isn’t purely ideologically driven by a need for belonging. It also incorporates university’s ability for one to fulfil their own hedonistic desires. Freedom causes both an increase in alcohol and tobacco consumption as well as unhealthy dietary habits. [7]
Sports become more serious as the individual’s age increases and this seriousness takes no prisoners. No leniencies are afforded towards academic priorities, sporting bigotry, and hedonistic desires. As a sports dropout myself having taken part in hurling, soccer, gaelic football, swimming, and karate in my childhood; I can testify I proscribe more to the Dead Poets ideology surrounding change. I personally stopped enjoying the sports of my youth and instead applied myself into both social and academic ventures. This is a decision that alike many Queen’s University Belfast students I don’t regret. Whilst I sometimes lament the glory days of old, I ultimately am happy with my decision to leave the sporting world and have no regrets surrounding this departure. Although maybe I too am attempting to justify my regrets to myself.
References
[1] Frost, Robert. n.d. “The Road Not Taken.” Poetry Foundation. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44272/the-road-not-taken.
[2] Weir, Peter, director. Dead Poets Society. Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, 1989. 2 hrs., 8 min.
[3] Battaglia, Anthony, Gretchen Kerr, and Katherine Tamminen. “The Dropout From Youth Sport Crisis: Not as Simple as It Appears”, Kinesiology Review 13, 3 (2024): 345-356, accessed Feb 19, 2026, https://doi.org/10.1123/kr.2023-0024
[4] Maslow, Abraham. 1943. Theory of Human Motivation. Psychological Review. Vol. 50. Wilder Publications.
[5] Turnbull, Tiffanie. 2026. “Josh Cavallo: Pioneering Gay Footballer Accuses Former Club of Homophobia.” BBC News, January 13, 2026. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cjrznw9e243o.
[6] Livie, Alex. 2002. “Lennon Pulls out after Death Threat.” Sky Sports. August 21, 2002. https://www.skysports.com/football/news/2243433/lennon-pulls-out-after-death-threat.
[7] “First Year Fatties | Health and Fitness.” 2026. Archive.org. 2026. https://web.archive.org/web/20131021233043/http://mhsbroadcaster.org/dj/health13/?p=227.
