How To Balance Life As A College Athlete

Becoming a college athlete is no easy task as you need to have proper discipline on balancing and managing your time to train to accomplish all your school requirements. College on its own is already stressful enough, let alone adding more load into your busy schedule. Fortunately for you, there are ways on how to balance life as a college athlete. 

This article is about how you could manage your time as an athlete while still perform well in your academics.

Set A Specific Goal

You might be dreaming of becoming a professional athlete someday or become a lawyer or a doctor. Whatever the case may be, you need to set this as your goal and keep your eyes on it. Do whatever it takes to reach this goal, and do not let anything or anyone stop you from achieving it.

Know Your Priorities

Balancing your studies and training practice requires dedication and self-discipline. In the process, you have to sacrifice some of the things that regular college students do. Chances are you might miss a few college events. But in the long run, you will reap all the fruits of your sacrifices and hard work.

Create A Schedule And Stick With It 

All your training schedules are plotted before the semester starts. Therefore it will be easier for you to create a study schedule. Most of the time, training schedules are set with respect to your class, so you won’t have to worry about any conflicting schedules. 

Plot this schedule in a calendar where you can easily see it so that you can check it regularly and whether you can accommodate more tasks for the day. Try to be productive when thinking about what to do with your free time between training and class.

Keep Your Body Healthy

Being healthy is important not just because you are an athlete, but also it would enable you to perform all your other tasks. A healthy lifestyle would give you all the energy you need to accomplish your duty as an athlete student. Make sure that you get a complete 8 hours of sleep to help your body recharge. 

Know When To Say No To College Parties

As an athlete, it is normal to get invited to almost all college parties and happenings. Though you have your social obligations to attend to, keep in mind the repercussions if you stay up late partying. It is ok to go every once in a while but do not do it regularly.

Ask Your Professors For Assistance

Since part of your routine is to train hard for your sport, there would come a time wherein you will become physically exhausted and have a hard time catching up with the class. If this happens, do not hesitate to ask for your professor’s help. They would be more than willing to accommodate you, plus it would show them that you are not just there as a compliant student but someone who wants to learn.

Do Not Over Burden Yourself

There is a reason why college athletes have a lesser load per semester than regular students. It is because taking a full load while training would be mentally and physically draining. Trying to do more than what you can handle might result in failing to accomplish either of the two or both.

Do Not Miss Class

You may be the star of your school, but it does not mean that you have a free pass to skip class. Skipping class would make it hard for you to catch up with your future lessons as every topic is intertwined. Athletes are still required to maintain a particular grade if they want to remain on the team. Therefore you must attend class religiously and focus on your academics the same way you focus on your training.

To become a college athlete, you need to work hard for it. Being a good player is not enough; you need to perform well with your studies too. If you want to enjoy your stint as a college athlete, then time management is the key. Everything is possible as long as you put your mind to it and establish a proper habit.