Student Athlete Spotlight

By: Shravya Kundavaram

Although it is a great way to have fun and be involved with other activities, being a student athlete comes with numerous responsibilities. All year round I participate in a school sport. I think it's important for maintaining physical fitness and relieving stress from school. There are challenges along the way, with late night games, and the struggle to turn in all your assignments on time. Playing sports can teach you time management skills and help you avoid procrastination. I have to admit, there are assignments with which I still procrastinate. Getting involved with clubs or any extracurriculars will help you find a balance between academics and enjoyable activities.

Transitioning to freshman year was challenging because it felt as if I had walked into a new atmosphere. I found it difficult to maintain my grades last year during the first marking period while playing soccer. As time went on I found a routine and became more organized with school. It can be very overwhelming at first, but as soon as you get the hang of it, everything starts to feel more manageable. Sports have definitely impacted my life in a positive light because now I can be more focused and attentive towards school. Cross country or any sport is a great way of making new friends, achieving goals, and improving yourself overall. Now that school is virtual I find participating in a sport helps to stop me from staring at a screen for 6-7 hours a day. I tend to lose focus and motivation to do my work because I would be in my room all day with a phone easily accessible for me to use. I remind myself that after school work, I have practice! Though cross country workouts are not always fun to look forward to, I get excited to be with my friends as we run in pain together! The role of a student athlete is to be able to manage the workload from school while making a daily commitment to a sport. The tasks of doing so can be very tedious.

Most of the time with online school, I am rushing to get ready for practice and be at the school by 3:15 as my last zoom ends at 2:40. During those time crunching moments, I think about how much easier it would be if I didn't do a sport. When I am cramming to submit an assignment on a late bus ride home after a track meet, I easily get frustrated. It is completely normal to have these thoughts. At the end of the day, I would never quit doing a sport. Doing a sport makes my high school experience a lot more enjoyable. The main factor of a student athlete requires determination, being able to write that last paragraph, finishing that last assignment in your upcoming list on Schoology, or studying even harder for a test. Then, you have to manage your time wisely, which makes you depend on yourself to have the motivation to get back to school work right after coming home from a practice. While it took me a while to figure out how to manage my time and get everything done, there are many things that I can still work on as an athlete and a student. I do not know what I would do without sports, even though it’s a love/hate relationship. Without sports, I would be a completely different person.