Caitlin Fieselman

Journalism

Student-Athletes

            People are struggling everyday to be the best student-athlete they can be. From classes, to practice, to homework, and finding food and sleep at some point in between, their days are jam-packed. It’s a lot like having a full-time job.

Being a student-athlete is stressful and demanding. You have to learn to time-manage well. Some sports have “two-a-days” so that adds to the list also. Many sports require you to miss classes and social outings. The pressure of being a student-athlete means you have to be organized and responsible. Often people don’t even realize how incredibly challenging their schedule will be until they actually become a student-athlete.

On top of the regular daily routine student-athletes have, they have the struggles of keeping their grades up, making everyone proud, and playing and working to certain people’s expectations. One mistake could end everything. If you don’t practice and train right, and get hurt, they may end up never being able to play again. The consequences could be high. Most college tell you that you could lose your scholarship, would could then lead to not being about to afford college. Then what? Others don’t necessarily see the stress and pressure faced by a student-athlete who suffers an injury because other many student-athletes who get hurt are able to come back to the sport. But there are those few who are unlucky and don’t make it back to the sport.

In a “homepage story” by Southeastern Louisiana University called Being a Student Athlete is Challenging, a student said, “ being a student-athlete is challenging because you have to juggle practice, schedules and traveling for games with classes, most of us have scholarship responsibilities, so we cant afford to fall behind in our school work.”

Everyone knows what he or she needs to do to be a good student-athlete. Everyone has different ways to accomplish their goals, but everyone could end up in the same sinking boat. Still in college, but not a student-athlete anymore, having the word athlete on the end of your title name is a privilege that could be taken away with one wrong move. In a brochure by Lafayette College it says “Being a student-athlete at Lafayette College is a privilege, not a right. The rules and regulations of the department and college must be respected at all times to earn the privilege to represent Lafayette College on our athletic teams. The number one priority for student-athletes at Lafayette College is academic success, All College and NCAA regulations will be upheld to the highest level.

Very few student-athletes have a job during their season, but some do. The ones who don’t work during their sports season still have a job, to be the best they can be in their sport. Student-athletes treat their sport and classes as their job, one student athlete in an interview for Colorado University news article, What Entails Being a Student-Athlete? Indicated, he said he “spends on average 30-40 hours a week being a student-athlete,” which is the equivalent to having a normal fulltime job. Another student from Colorado University said in the same interview for, What Entails Being a Student-Athlete? “It is a big commitment but it’s worth it.”

Experiencing the stress and demands of being a student-athlete does have its benefits. There are a lot of great things that come from the hard work of being a student-athlete. For instance you build better organizational skills and you learn to better prioritize your time and responsibilities. In a University of Iowa article called Students Build Valuable Skills Juggling Academic, Sports by Fred Mims, Senior Associate Athletics Director and Director of Athletics Student Services said, “It also allows you to carry heavy mental and physical burdens that you’ll always have to do with in your everyday life. It really tests you. Bu then you figure out a way to be successful under those pressures and stressors.” It seems pretty apparent that the experiences of the student-athlete while challenging in college can teach them valuable coping skills for use later in work and life.