Tyler Seguin is thinking of maybe expanding his mind while he is locked out of his proper day job. Greg M. Cooper-US PRESSWIRE
Now that the NHL lockout is official, players are starting to consider their contingency plans. Some, like Evgeni Malkin and Sergei Gonchar, are headed back to Russia to play in the KHL. Others could be considering trips to their farm teams. Being college-aged, though, and in a city well-known for its higher education pursuits, Tyler Seguin of the Boston Bruins might have something else on his mind:
Feels kinda weird to be unemployed now….. Debating what classes to start taking at BU or BC? #NHLLockout
— Tyler Seguin (@tylerseguin92) September 16, 2012
Rivals Boston College and Boston University are both easily accessible for Seguin should he choose to start taking some classes. BU boasts more than 250 fields of study and BC counts one-time Bruin Mike Mottau among its alumni.
If Seguin wants to go into the liberal arts, he has lots of options at both schools. He, like me, might find sociology to his liking (full disclosure: my degree is in journalism with a sociology minor). BC offers sociology classes like Women and the Body (now, Tyler, it might not be what you think), Making Popular Culture and the Sociology of Culture. At BU, he could take Sexuality and Social Life (again, Tyler, might not be what you expect), Urban Sociology, Crime and Delinquency or the Sociology of Health Care.
If he’s fond of history, especially the rich history of the city where he (usually) works, both schools have courses for him. BU offers the history of Boston focusing on community and conflict; BC has a special class focusing on the school’s history as it turns 150. BU also has a history class studying the way magic, science and religion are viewed in various cultures throughout history. BC even has a class just about the 1990s and, considering Seguin was born in 1992, he could use a refresher on some of the things he missed by being too young.
But maybe he wants to try to learn a foreign language to catch up with captain Zdeno Chara, who can speak seven languages and is learning an eighth. Both schools offer languages like Spanish, French and Italian. BC is known for its Slavic and East Asian language department, offering courses in Russian, Arabic and Chinese. At BU, Seguin could learn Modern Greek and get in touch with his mother’s Greek heritage. He could also take up Hindi, Turkish or Korean. Neither school, though, teaches Czech or Slovak.
Both schools have business programs. If Seguin were to go to BU, he’d probably see fellow Bruin Matt Grzelcyk in his classes because that is what he is studying at the home of the Terriers. BU offers programs in business administration, business law, business administration with a focus on medicine or medical sciences and one focusing on security and risk management. (He could give a special talk called “When Your Employer Locks You Out,” maybe.) At BC, he could get a degree in business law and pave the way towards perhaps becoming an agent or NHLPA legal counsel in the distant future.
If education is calling his name, he can learn the noble calling of teaching at both schools. Both schools will teach you how to teach elementary or secondary students. BU has other, more specialized programs like math education, special ed, early childhood education and deaf studies, programs that are sometimes offered only as minors at BC.
If he’s looking to strengthen his musical knowledge, BC can teach him the tin whistle, the keyboard or the history of popular music in America. BU can teach him musicology, composition or music education. Both schools also offer visual arts and theater–as his less-than-passionate on-screen presence in those old Dunkin’ Donuts Turbo Shot spots shows, he could use some refining in that area.
BU has more areas of study and BC has a theology requirement owing to the school’s religious heritage. BU also has a school of theology, though. Not only that, both schools also have well-known hockey teams, although BU is mired in some controversies of its own right now.
Last summer, Seguin joked that he was going to enroll at Harvard when that school’s famous Harvard Lampoon gave the Bruins the Best Sports Team Ever award. This year, while Seguin is perhaps only joking when he’s thinking of taking college courses, here’s hoping he doesn’t have much of a chance to consider it due to the quick resolution of the NHL’s labor issues.
