College Football
Pre-med workload? Daniels' up to challenge

By Quintin Daniels
Special to The Seattle Times

ROD MAR / THE SEATTLE TIMES Sophomore receiver Quintin Daniels manages study time even in the UW training room.

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I'm planning on majoring in pre-med because I've always been interested in the body and how it works.

When I was in high school I took an anatomy class and that's what really got me interested.

Being a sophomore here, I haven't really gotten to take a lot of classes about the body yet because you have to take a certain amount of other classes first to learn basic science and math.

Last year, I took chemistry, physics and calculus classes.

It was hard and it was challenging, but I had a lot of tutors who would help me get through it, so I guess I did all right. I would spend about 10 hours a week — roughly two hours each weekday — with tutors. I would also go to study table, which is mandatory for freshmen. That means during the season, I would start classes around 9:30 a.m., go until noon or so, have lunch and a little rest, then go to a tutor, then go to practice, then have dinner, then go to study table, and then go to another tutor. I'd get done around 9:30 p.m. Sometimes I wish I had more time to relax, but when you stay busy, you don't have to worry too much about anything else.

I was lucky in that I felt real comfortable in college because of how challenging my high school is (Loyola High in Los Angeles). It's a Jesuit college prep school with about 1,200 students — all boys — and I think it prepared me very well for this. (Daniels scored 1,150 on his SAT).

But I'm not the only one. Robert Lewis, who came in the same class with me last year, went to Montclair College Prep (in the Los Angeles area) and he's also planning on majoring in pre-med. He's one step ahead of me in chemistry, so he sometimes tries to help me out with certain problems.

This fall, I'm hoping I get to take more physics classes. I think they are pretty fun classes. Someday, I hope I can be either an orthopedic doctor or a plastic surgeon.

In a lot of ways, being a football player helps me learn about the body, as well. When I'm in the training room, if I get hurt, I'm always interested in what goes on and how it happens and what you should do afterward.

Whenever I mention to people that I'm majoring in pre-med, they tell me it's going to be pretty hard. But I guess I'm up to the challenge. Education was real important in my family — my father's a stockbroker in downtown Los Angeles and my mom has worked in real estate — so I'm down for it.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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