How to balance life being a student athlete

Managing sports and school life is challenging because it can get stressful and overwhelming depending on how much you have to do every day, and this is especially true if you're a freshman like me. What gets real challenging though when trying to manage your time is being able to get your homework done and being an athlete. Managing to do both things at once isn’t always easy, but if you truly love what you are doing then you can make it work. 

The reality of it is yes, playing a sport is really draining and tiring, and you usually come home from a game tired and still have to do homework; but that is the cost of being a student-athlete. You have to learn how to balance your life and manage your time well in order to do the things you like. Keeping your grades up and maintaining a GPA over 2.0 is also important, so make sure you keep that in mind too. Staying on top of everything is everything.

Participating in a sport is fun, but it also gets more challenging as you go up in grades because as you get older you have a lot more responsibilities and more difficult classes to balance. Playing sports and trying to get work done can be a lot at times, but that is where sleep comes in, so make sure to get as much of it as you can, everyday. 

Lastly, what is also important as a student-athlete is to be able to prioritize your school work; know what needs to get done first, whether it is getting homework done, studying for a test, or doing chores at home. Another important thing to remember when you know you have a lot of homework to do or an upcoming test is to talk to your coach and be able to make arrangements if you will be late to practice for tutoring purposes or need to miss [practice] because you’re overwhelmed with homework. Remember that grades are important in order to stay eligible to play your sport, so communicate with your coach when you have to; don’t be afraid.

Being a student-athlete is hard, but if you learn to manage your time well, know what’s important to get done at school and at home, and talk to your coaches ahead of time if you need to get help after school at Prep or with your teacher, you will have success.