School Sport

College is a time of adjustment for everybody. It’s a time for figuring out who you are, what you want to be in life, and how you’re going to get there. College athletes have an added degree of stress, stemming from the effort necessary to balance academics and sports. In addition, many freshman athletes are coming from a school where they were widely recognized and respected. Having to work their way back up as a college freshman can seem like an entirely new experience.Colleges are honor-bound to hold their student-athletes up to the same academic standards as non-athletes. How can athletes deal with this? Time-management is key. Being able to plan when and how you will accomplish both their academic and athletic goals is the best way to avoid stress. This involves prioritizing activities and being able to stay in sometimes, even when friends are going out. That’s not to say that all relaxation should be avoidedindeed, knowing when to take a break is an important time-management skill. However, students should always avoid unsafe behaviors like unsafe sex, obsessive gambling, and alcohol and/or drug abuse.The energy that goes into playing a sport can actually help student-athletes learn to focus when it comes to schoolthey just need to be able to shift their focus from sports when necessary. Being able to learn to use any free time to get a leg up on academics can also come in handy. Student-athletes should also remember that they have a built-in support base of teammates and coaches if they ever need to talk to someone, or get advice. Hopefully, these people will support an athlete’s desire to perform well academically. If not, the student-athlete should seek out a professor or student counselor who will be able to offer a different perspective.It’s especially important for student-athletes to pay attention in class, ask questions, and take good notes. There’s nothing worse than sitting down to study the night before a test and realizing you don’t have any idea what’s going on. The student comes first in “student-athlete,” so it’s important that students keep up with their reading and other assignmentsthe only sure-fire way to guarantee that their grades stay up.