Jordan* was in his senior year of high school when he decided to take an English class that sounded easy. People in his high school took this class just get their last English credit out of the way. Jordan had already committed to run Division I track and field and was not worried about getting into the school.

Jordan prepared all spring and summer, running himself into the ground so that he would be ready for his first college season. He worked his butt off to make sure that everything would be perfect come his freshman year.

Related: Ask an Athlete: Three Common Questions About College Academics, Answered

Jordan arrived on campus with the rest of the track team and was so excited to meet all his teammates. The cross-country team had already started their practices and he was hearing about what the coaches and the workouts were like. Until one day, he got a call from his coach. His coach told him that he had gotten an email from the registration office that said that Jordan was not academically eligible to compete as a student-athlete his freshman year. As it turned out, the easy English class that Jordan took was not an accepted course by the NCAA. This meant that Jordan was actually short one year of English and he would have to take an English class both semesters to be able to be academically eligible to run for his school. This was crushing for Jordan, as he was really looking forward to competing. Nevertheless, Jordan took both classes and is now eligible to compete for his school.

Moral of the story: make sure your classes count as NCAA-accepted classes before you try to take an easy course!

*Name changed for anonymity

Have a horror story of your own? Email us at [email protected]

* Originally published on June 20, 2023, by Bella Nevin