HaleyOne of my favorite ways to spend my time in between studying for a New Testament exam and writing an ethics paper is participating in intramural sports with my fellow Candler students. Each sport lasts for only about six weeks, so there is ample opportunity to participate in a variety of sports—from basketball to badminton—throughout the school year. While we as Candler students aim to glorify the Lord in all we do, anyone can join an intramural team, whether you were the starting quarterback of your SEC collegiate football team or simply like to pretend to be athletic.

In our society, we often neglect the importance of play for the sake of productivity, failing to see play as a channel for productivity, as an arena of freedom in which we can test the limits of our minds, hearts, and bodies. Candler is indeed a very productive place, a place in which students, faculty, and staff truly seek to make a real difference in the real world. However, Candler is also a playful place, a place that celebrates freedom and discovery.

Besides being an outlet for play, Candler intramural sports are a great way to meet other Candler students you may not cross paths with otherwise. During my first year, when most of my classes primarily consisted of other first years, I got the chance to meet and become friends with several second and third-year students, as well as students in other degree programs.

Are you a Candler student interested in joining an intramural sports team? Follow these quick and easy steps:

  1. Look in the mirror and congratulate yourself on your interest, because Candler intramural sports are so fun!
  2. Email haley.andreades@emory.edu to be added to the intramural sports email list.
  3. Sign up for whatever sports interest you.
  4. Hope you don't play the Physical Therapy school. (They're all so dang athletic!)
  5. Know that whether you win or lose, Candler is "second to nun."

Top photo: The Candler flag football team, "Second to Nun," after their first game of this year.