Clock Management

Student Athletes View Busy Schedule as Both Challenge and Benefit

McQuaid takes on rival Saint Josephs in Volleyball.

McQuaid takes on rival Saint Joseph’s in Volleyball.

Being a student athlete at any school can be a struggle, but trying to maintain a high GPA while playing a sport at McQuaid Jesuit may be especially tough.  

Time management is one of the most challenging parts of being a high school student, especially in today’s day and age, and perhaps even more so for seniors applying to colleges.

Winter sports are here, and that means for even more athletes the workload and stress is only growing. Students often find themselves scrambling at the end of the marking period to make up any late work, adding stress to their lives.

At the same time, however, coaches are teaching valuable lessons to these student athletes.

“Coach Nino stresses to us how important our education is, and that performing well in school is just as important as performing well on the field,” senior soccer player Vincenzo Capezzuto said. “He wants us to focus academically so we can focus on the field.”

Some valuable life lessons may be taught by being student athletes, and oftentimes the bombardment of work ends up benefiting the students more than it hurts them in the long run.

“Playing football has caused me to learn how to manage my time properly,” senior football player Will Anderson said. “For example, before night practices, we have to get all of our homework done for the next day.”

The schedules of these student athletes need to be very strict, and require strong time-management skills.  Further in in life, their schedules will constantly grow busier and busier, and they must adapt.  Being a student athlete today properly teaches students how to manage their time properly.

So should teachers limit the amount of work given, or is the amount a good way to instill an effective work ethic in students?  The idea of maintaining the workload during sports seasons can be seen as both beneficial and detrimental, but it is up to the student athlete to decide this.

There are certainly two sides to this story.  Some like the workload they receive, while others would like special accommodations for being a student athlete.