It’s easy, and sort of understandable, to bypass the word student in the term student-athlete. Those on the outside only see these young men and women when they’re working on the athlete end of things. Games, practices, workouts, photo shoots, interviews – all athlete-centric activities, all seen or discussed publicly.
The student side of it isn’t done in private, but very rarely is it seen or celebrated. And until schools build 50,000 seat stadiums to watch people learn geometry or take a Spanish quiz, it’s likely to remain that way. But that’s what these student-athletes are in school for.