Being a student-athlete and coexisting with many different skills is difficult. The long hard worked hours at school and training after is exhausting as a former athlete. Nearly eight million students participate in a high school sport, and in the NCAA, there are an estimated 530,000 students in an athletic program. A select few students start a professional career in the sport they love. Less than 2% of students become D1 athletes.
The morning of a student-athlete life
I played high school volleyball during my freshman, sophomore, and junior years. The dedication I had towards my sport was unbeatable until it came to my junior year. Every morning I would wake up and have a balanced breakfast. I would pack bottles of water for practices/games which occurred after school. Every morning I walked into school with two bags. One bag was for my school work and the other was for my jerseys, shoes, knee pads, food, water, and extra clothes.
Can a student balance work and school with a sport?
The expectations a student has with balancing their school work and being a student-athlete are not very easy. When a student is going to school for 6 hours a day and has practice after school, it is very overwhelming. For a student to carry several weights on their shoulders, they need to develop time management skills.
Although the schedule might be busy, be sure to allow your body to rest. This is very important for your body so it can replenish energy, unwind, and allow you to let your bones relax.
Being a student-athlete experiences a load of stress and pressure. Sometimes, a struggle comes with mental health problems. The amount of stress one endures from being a student and taking minor/major classes can cause anxiety. For high-achieving high school students academically, mental health can be rough especially when trying to be a high-end athletic high school student.
As students are graduating from high school, some are transitioning into college athletic programs/majoring. This is where people start focusing on changing their scheduling because it is hard to move around.
Interviews
A student at Colonia High School, Cory Pascarella, has an input as a baseball player. He doesn’t think that it is difficult to play a sport while in high school. He believes that you can be balanced when it comes to school, work, and a sport. He honors his time for his practices and games and works around his schedule. During his freshman year, it was more difficult for him to adjust due to the change in his life for playing a sport. Regardless of this, Pascarella enjoys carrying the weight of being a student-athlete.
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