Jimmy Hsu is the team captain of the McGill Varsity Badminton Team, a third year PhD candidate, and a self proclaimed foodie. He’s been with the team since the 2013-2014 season and made captain immediately after his first year. In terms of responsibilities, he not only serves as a mentor to the rest of the team, he’s also responsible for a lot of the logistics for tournaments: playing lineup within the competitions, and handling the travel and accommodation details that make the competition possible. He’s the one who takes care of the details nobody else even realizes exist. When I talked to a couple of returning players, there was definitely a consensus: Jimmy is very underappreciated in terms of all the administrative stuff that he does.
Surprisingly, Jimmy didn’t grow up playing badminton competitively. “I was a basketball player in high school, but I knew I couldn’t play past high school since I’m not very tall.” That’s when he started playing badminton with his parents; but he quickly surpassed them in terms of skill, so he sought out new competition through the school team. During the 2013-2014 season, he only practiced with the team because he didn’t have full eligibility. “I did accompany them to nationals that year though, as a ‘chaperone.’ It was great. I got to act as a coach and cheer the rest of the team on.”
After making captain, he also says he’s gotten noticeably better at organizing. “There is a lot to do and something I need to get better at is delegating more tasks. But because I like to do everything myself, I’ve learned how to organize myself well.” Outside of the gym, he’s often in the lab for his graduate studies, which involve building a computational model of microtubules in the cytoskeleton to investigate the dynamic instability within that biological system. “Being a grad student is much like having a full time job. You go from 9-5, so there’s a bit of structure there, which helps with time management.” When asked to elaborate on how he manages to balance school and the team, he had some wise words to share. “The most important part of time management is figuring out when you’re most efficient. For example, I learned that I’m very efficient from 2:30-5:30am, so then I try to go to bed early when I have a lot of work so I can get up at that time. For me, there’s no use in forcing myself to work when I know I’m not going to be that productive.”
As any student athlete knows, nutrition is also important. The human body can’t function without the right fuels, and you definitely can’t study well without eating well. Besides consciously eating healthy, Jimmy also consults a nutritionist, and uses MyFitnessPal to track calorie, sugar, and sodium count. “I’m not too strict with myself though. I had three packs of Oreos in one sitting the other day. It’s important to just eat what you want some days, as long as you’re conscious of your nutrition most of the time.”
And as for being a foodie—“I can’t call myself a legitimate foodie because I don’t take fancy pictures of my food, but I enjoy just trying new foods and new places around the city.” When asked about his favourite restaurant, he took his time in contemplating before answering L’Express, a French cuisine on St.Denis.
And for a last thought going forward– “As the team’s skill level improves with each year, it’s always exciting to compete with other schools and seeing our placing improve. But what’s more exciting is the comradery that’s developed within the team. We’re there for each other for more than just badminton. And that’s something I’m really happy with.“
All photos obtained from interviewee.