A student athlete is an individual who adventures into finding the perfect balance of what many say feels like two full-time jobs: school and their sport.
For some student athletes, the “student” part is surprisingly the hardest.
“The biggest challenge for me is not being present in class, so I have to teach myself the material instead of a professor explaining the content,” senior pitcher Jonathan Hanscom said. “To prepare, I make sure to communicate with professors and plan out when I will have time to complete assignments including tests, quizzes and labs.”
As student athletes put in effort on the track, field or court, they then turn around and must put in additional effort into school.
“It was difficult for me at first, but the teachers and faculty here know it gets hard balancing practice times, games and traveling,” freshman guard Isaiah Griffin said.
Coming home from a long, difficult practice to turn around and do two plus hours of homework, already drained, physically and mentally, can be exhausting for student athletes.
Squeezing in any extra time to study between practice and class and arranging time with professors to work around traveling are daily aspects that most, if not all student athletes have to face while their sport is in season.
For freshman libero Masyn Navarro, communication with professors and planning ahead have been extremely helpful.
“To prepare when I know we’re traveling, I make it a point to get all my work done and communicate,” Navarro said. “I must communicate with my teachers so that I don’t miss much work, and they are very flexible when you communicate early rather than the night before you leave.”
So, what is the most important part about being a student athlete when it comes to traveling?
Hanscom, Griffin and Navarro all said communication.
“I would say the most important part to staying on track with my academics while traveling so often and missing so much class is making sure I go over material and study with classmates when I’m around and setting time aside for me to complete my work whether that’s on the bus, late at night after a game or waking up extra early before classes.” Hanscom said.
“Having everyone on the same page makes everything more manageable,” Griffin said. “The group of teachers I had during the first and second semester have helped me out a lot with the communication I have with them.”
“As long as you advocate for yourself and establish a relationship with your professors, your academic life will be 10 times easier,” Navarro said.
Chloe Proffitt can be reached at 581-2812 or at cgproffitt@eiu.edu.
