In today’s world, nearly every young person has a virtual life on personal websites such as Facebook or MySpace, and it is safe to assume that a potential college coach will try to find your online identity. First impressions on the Internet are hard to erase, partly because pictures and information on the web can be easily copied, downloaded and reproduced. Even after the original is gone, it most likely still exists on some website, somewhere, with someone. Thus, we recommend a student-athlete should keep his or her digital profile clean, private and respectable. This goes for both high school and college athletes. In the real world, employers often do a detailed background search including a web search before they will hire someone.

We’ve heard plenty of stories from college coaches where they have found pictures of student-athletes online, drinking alcohol and/or partying. Right off the bat this tarnished their image with their potential coach. Remember, college coaches are looking for someone that is going to represent their program on and off the field. An easy way to check what’s out there is to Google yourself. If you don’t like what you see, contact the site or user and request that they take it down.

Just to get an idea of the importance of the issue, here’s a quote from USA Today:

“Florida State athletes were given ten days to cleanse their profiles in December. That came after administrators there asked coaches to select random student-athletes’ names and plug them into a Facebook search. “They were surprised and dismayed,” associate athletics director Pam Overton says. “They were surprised at the pictures, that students would allow themselves to be exposed in the public domain.” http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/internetprivacy/2006-03-08-athletes-websites_x.htm

Here are a few tips on how to keep your online identity presentable:

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I don’t have any swimming stats from college, I never finished a mile around the track at my college while spectators stood by, and I certainly haven’t cleared a high jump bar beyond high school. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t take the journey towards college sports.

As a two-sport high school athlete who didn’t play college level sports, you may be wondering why I am writing on this subject. Here at SportsForce we are dedicated to assisting student-athletes reach their potential and a big part for those that want to pursue sports after high school is finding the right college fit for you.

At seventeen, deciding what you want to major in through college is terrifying, factor in where you want to live, laying out your schedule and deciding what sports program might be right for you, these decisions can be downright crippling. I went down this path. I swam competitively all my life. I loved it and wanted to keep swimming in college. As a straight A student, I also loved writing, learning and all that good stuff. I needed a school that could nurture me academically and socially, but also offer a swim program that would allow me to maintain my life. I had swam competitively since I was six years old, and couldn’t imagine life without it.

I had looked into many colleges with DII and DIII swim programs. Some were great schools, but I was in love with the University of Rhode Island. As in “Division I athletics” University of Rhode Island.

After much thought I decided I wanted to go to URI, it had the academics, the location and social opportunities I looked for, I would figure out the swimming part later, I thought. At freshman orientation several meetings ran at the same time for students to attend. Varsity athletics and the Honors Program were at conflicting times. Being more terrified of hard schoolwork than a heavy athletic program, I went to the varsity athletics meeting. I sat in on the swimming meeting, spoke with the coach, and though I was still terrified, got excited to swim for URI. I was a little nervous about how doubles sessions and away meets would work with my class schedule, but figured I would find a balance, as many, many athletes do.

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Getting the most out of your time is important to every college student, whether you’re an athlete, an honors student, a part time student or someone taking on more credits than imaginable. As with many things in life, the mantra, “work hard, play hard” works well in the college atmosphere. I hope to offer you a few tips to get the most out of your time in those four years, or whatever they may be for you.

Though I did not play a sport in college, I did work 20 hours a week and was active in many clubs and organizations. Trying to balance these commitments with class and studying, I learned a few tricks to get the most out of my time and still manage to push myself and enjoy the college experience.

One way to avoid a time crunch during your college years is to enroll in Advanced Placement (AP) classes in high school. Most schools offer a variety of AP subjects, which will not only count for credits in high school towards graduation, but also offer you the chance to earn credits for college. To count for college credit, you must pass the test at the end of the course, and be sure that your school of choice will accept these credits. This can ensure you have some general education classes or Gen Eds finished before you even step foot on campus. Just be sure you know where you send the scores, your school will process them apply them to your transcript, so long as they have received the scores in the first place. This is something that is important to follow up on.

Despite getting some credits out of the way, scheduling classes around your extracurricular activities can still be tough with many higher-level classes only being offered at one time or only one semester during the school year.

An easy option to work around this is to take down your course load if you can. Summers are a great time to squeeze in classes you may need. You can either take shorter, more intensive courses from your university over the summer or take them from an accredited college in your hometown. I was able to knock out some Gen Eds during summer courses, allowing me to take fewer credits during my senior year.

There are also many different types of classes out there which may be easier to work into a hectic schedule. Some classes meet just once a week for a longer block of time, while there are also opportunities for independent studies. Don’t be quick to panic about classes running into your schedule, from colloquiums, to independent studies, there is many options around the usual Monday, Wednesday, Friday classes. Many schools are now offering online courses even for students who live on campus, allowing for more flexibility in scheduling.

Really researching and planning out classes and credit loads can be time consuming, but it will pay off when your schedule is able to accommodate all of your obligations and still leave time to enjoy the college life.