Now, you may be wondering what exactly qualifies me to speak on this matter. The answer is that I am a junior varsity softball player entering my third season at Kenyon. And before I played collegiate softball, I was a three sport athlete in high school. I have been maintaining this lifestyle for so many years and I’d just like to shed some light on my experience (ONLY my experience).
I’ve always considered myself a fairly well rounded individual. I work hard in the classroom and library, while also building muscle in the gym or increasing stamina on the diamond. When I was younger, these two identities seemed to coexist rather peacefully. To be a part of an athletics team for a long time meant a fun, social outlet from school. And school always enabled me to not take athletics to heart because at the end of the day, it was just a game.
Now, as a DIII student athlete, my relationship between academics and athletics have changed ever so slightly. Softball went from a 12 hour commitment to around a 24 hour commitment each week. While that may not seem like much to you, that is a substantial increase in the time I have for myself and my studies.
Was this surprising? No. I signed up for all of this when my name showed up on the roster. What has surprised me over the years though, is how my two identities (student & athlete) have fought for my attention. I am sometimes unable to drop my metaphorical softball during classes. I find it difficult to push readings and written words out of my head at practice. Either way, the term “student athlete” has grown numb on my tongue because a lot of people don’t understand what that entails.
As a spring athlete, I don’t have a true offseason during the academic year. In the fall, around two weeks after every student returns, I begin lifting twice a week. (And did I mention it’s at 6:15 in the morning?) For those of you who always wondered why my hair is wet in 8am classes, now you know. Lift is then mixed with three practices a week plus an extra hour or two of bullpens for myself (I’m a pitcher in case you were wondering). We call this whole schedule “Fall Season.”
After fall season, we are technically (and I mean this in the loosest of terms) in our offseason. For me that requires lifting three days a week in addition to self guided bullpens which are also three days a week. However, the joy of being a student athlete doesn’t begin until the spring semester. We reconvene after winter break to a crisp 5-6 days of practice per week along with two days of lift. But the games really define my season: I play from spring break to the end of finals week. That’s roughly 40 games a season with each of our play days accounting for two of those games. Those 20 days of play are at least 6 hours, so no wonder I may miss my class in the afternoon.
But that is only one side of the coin. The other side offers up a rigorous course schedule because at the end of the day, I am a student just like everyone else. I take eclectic electives because I want to experience a broad scope of knowledge by the time I graduate. I avoid my QR requirement because I haven’t taken a single math course in 3 years. I seek out my major and minor requirements hoping that I didn’t miss anything. I sometimes don’t participate in class because I don’t fully understand the readings.
My athletic career is meant to end whereas my education is not. However, being an athlete does creep into my ability as a student and vice versa. I often lose focus in class because I’ve been awake since 5:20am. And yet, at practice I keep thinking about my hurried comment I made during class. I can’t meet with groups or peers for projects between the normal hours of 4 and 7pm because I’m at practice. Papers that are due at 5pm stress me out for the same reason. But even when papers are due at 11:59pm I cannot stop thinking about the time I’m wasting being at practice.
Long story short: my experience as a student athlete has been simultaneously rewarding and disheartening. But at the end of the day, I wouldn’t want to choose another path for myself.