Freddy Sion
Staff Writer '19
Winter is a time when athletes hone their abilities in various sports such as basketball, swimming, wrestling and fencing. However, sports such as these have long practices that continue long after the sun sets, pushing time students set aside for homework later into the night. In addition to time constraints imposed by athletics, students also have to deal with workloads increasing as students go more in depth into their studies and prepare for life-changing and consuming exams such as the SAT and ACT. Seniors are also preparing portions of their college applications, such as recommendation letters and essays, in hopes that they will be able to receive golden-ticket admissions letters from their top colleges.
It's difficult to balance both schoolwork and sports practice. There is, however, some perspective to the issue. A student can either allow their passions to hurt their school life or stay afloat among a sea of beneficial activities. In order to succeed, students find different strategies to help them with their time-management. When asked about creating a balance of priorities, Omeed Tartak, a sophomore who is a dedicated athlete on the varsity swim team and an avid intellectual, remarked that “if I wasn't managing my time effectively, I would have dropped the sport.” Omeed expressed that, in order to keep up with his academics, he would “work on assignments during free periods instead of just hanging out with friends.” As a result of taking small amounts of time away from his social life, “juggling school and athletics doesn't take too much of a toll on [him].”
While Omeed’s strategy of taking careful consideration of his actions works on his personal level, other students used different methods to keep their handles on being so busy. Emilia Pedersen, a hard working freshman on the girls winter track team, spoke of a how she "prioritized," searching for a balanced pursuit of physical activities and classes. Unlike Omeed, Emilia needed to take more time away from activities other than school work. It appears that, because Emilia’s schedule is a lot more vigorous than Omeed’s, she had to take more precautions to make sure she could juggle her student-life and athlete-life, even if that meant she had to prioritize her schedule over her health. While athletics and school together both pressure students to work hard, they help students in learning to make cautious and thoughtful decisions both on and off the field.
Staff Writer '19
Winter is a time when athletes hone their abilities in various sports such as basketball, swimming, wrestling and fencing. However, sports such as these have long practices that continue long after the sun sets, pushing time students set aside for homework later into the night. In addition to time constraints imposed by athletics, students also have to deal with workloads increasing as students go more in depth into their studies and prepare for life-changing and consuming exams such as the SAT and ACT. Seniors are also preparing portions of their college applications, such as recommendation letters and essays, in hopes that they will be able to receive golden-ticket admissions letters from their top colleges.
It's difficult to balance both schoolwork and sports practice. There is, however, some perspective to the issue. A student can either allow their passions to hurt their school life or stay afloat among a sea of beneficial activities. In order to succeed, students find different strategies to help them with their time-management. When asked about creating a balance of priorities, Omeed Tartak, a sophomore who is a dedicated athlete on the varsity swim team and an avid intellectual, remarked that “if I wasn't managing my time effectively, I would have dropped the sport.” Omeed expressed that, in order to keep up with his academics, he would “work on assignments during free periods instead of just hanging out with friends.” As a result of taking small amounts of time away from his social life, “juggling school and athletics doesn't take too much of a toll on [him].”
While Omeed’s strategy of taking careful consideration of his actions works on his personal level, other students used different methods to keep their handles on being so busy. Emilia Pedersen, a hard working freshman on the girls winter track team, spoke of a how she "prioritized," searching for a balanced pursuit of physical activities and classes. Unlike Omeed, Emilia needed to take more time away from activities other than school work. It appears that, because Emilia’s schedule is a lot more vigorous than Omeed’s, she had to take more precautions to make sure she could juggle her student-life and athlete-life, even if that meant she had to prioritize her schedule over her health. While athletics and school together both pressure students to work hard, they help students in learning to make cautious and thoughtful decisions both on and off the field.