The Martlet

Every student is busy and sometimes it can seem like there’s too much work for us to ever possibly finish it all on time. But for student athletes it’s even worse; imagine having all of that work, plus up to 20 hours of practice a week — and travelling every other weekend for games or meets.

Now, imagine doing all of that while still making the Vikes Honour Roll with a 6.6 (A equivalent) grade average.

How do those varsity athletes do it?

“It gets pretty stressful, but you have to try and find some balance,” says Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) second-year men’s cross country/track athlete Thomas Riva.

Riva is studying mechanical engineering — which normally entails a six-class course load each semester, plus co-op terms.

“I’m taking five classes, and I’m not really doing the same work terms as everyone else in my year will be doing — I’ll be taking an extra year to do my degree,” says Riva.

CIS fourth-year men’s rowing coxswain Jane Gumley and third-year captain Brendan Downey agree that the juggling act is rough — especially with their notoriously early morning practices at Elk Lake.

“It’s awful trying to balance the two,” says Downey, who is working towards a double major in creative writing and honour’s philosophy. “It’s bad,” says Gumley, who is pursuing a degree in English.“You go home from practice and make dinner, and then do an hour of homework and go to bed so that you can wake up for 6 a.m. practice — because if you don’t wake up, then everyone else who you’re supposed to be rowing with that morning is sort of left hanging.”

“It’s not easy,” says CIS third-year women’s basketball forward Sarah Semeniuk. “It’s definitely a lot of organizing my time and priorities. I just really try to focus on the school aspect while still trying to keep up with basketball. I just do the best that I can to perform in both aspects.”

Some athletes don’t find it quite so difficult, however.

“I don’t take a full course load, I only take four courses — so that helps. I mean, it is difficult but you’ve just got to be organized,” says CIS third-year men’s varsity swimmer and chemistry student Nick Sinclair.

Is it best to follow a routine?

“My routine is really getting things done in the evenings, to either go to the library or go home. For me it’s natural, I just have to be really aware of due dates,” says Semeniuk, who is studying kinesiology. “And my biggest thing is starting work early, starting assignments two weeks before instead of two days before so that I have a lot of time to go back and forth with it — then I won’t be rushed.”

“I just do the work as it comes,” says Riva.

“You end up doing homework at times you’d rather not,” says Downey. “But the best time to do work is in between class, or while I’m eating dinner.”

Getting extensions varies depending on the athlete and the professor.

“There’s a lot of asking your teacher for extensions, or getting tests moved while you’re travelling,” says Gumley.

“Most of the time they are very accommodating,” adds Downey.

How do athletes deal with the stress? Playing their respective sports.

“I definitely get stressed out — it’s a lot of work. I don’t really know how I deal with it, I just keep truckin’, I guess,” says Sinclair. “But swimming helps.”

“Our coach says that during practice time, we need to just allot those two hours to basketball and only focus on basketball. So during that time you can’t really do anything with your schoolwork or any other problems. That helps relieve some of the stress actually,” says Semeniuk. “It helps me forget about the billion other things I have to do.”

“[Training and running] gives you a break from doing all the constant school work. It just gives you something else to focus on,” says Riva.

Semeniuk notes that all students should try and find an activity to get their mind off school.

“It should be something that they really enjoy, and even if it’s just for an hour — I think that’s really important. It can be social as well as getting in some physical activity,” says Semeniuk.

What about a social life?

“I definitely wish I had more time, but there’s times that I can hang out with my friends — and I see a lot of them at practice too; many of them are on the team,” says Sinclair.

“I don’t go out that much during the season,” says Riva. “But I do live with some of my teammates.”

Semeniuk also finds that living with a teammate is helpful.

“It helps you to stay on track, especially when you have the same schedule,” says Semeniuk. “A lot of my social life involves my basketball team — we do a lot of things together outside of the sport and when we’re on the road, so I don’t really feel like it’s completely lacking.”

Semeniuk stands by the notion that it’s all about balance.

“I think it’s really important to have school and then basketball and a social life — I think all three of them are important,” says Semeniuk. “It’s something you just kind of have to accept when you’re in a varsity sport.”