Student Athletes

Being a Student Athlete can be a difficult time for any young individual. Whether it is in high school or at the collegiate level; the demand of their sport takes a chunk of time from them causing them to sacrifice education and personal time due to practice, traveling, team meetings, and games. It is important to remember even though they are athletes, the word, “student” comes first, and that life can get pretty challenging. As you need to balance your studies as well as participate in your specific sport, you need to have techniques at hand to help you manage them. The stress level can be very high as a result of needing to demonstrate exceptional physical fitness and ability in your sport, while simultaneously engaging your mind in studies. On top of that, you have to ensure that you have a sufficient amount of time to enjoy social skills. So, do ensure that there are enough support systems and time management aids to help you survive and become an outstanding student athlete.

Listed below are some common stressful activities a student athlete may face and next to it are strategies they can apply to help them through their stressful season.

Lack of money

Strategies- find a job on the side that pays well, enough for the week

Spend on a budget, set yourself on a budget so you have an idea on how much you are going to spend.
Cut off thing you don’t actually need that you spend on regularly. Don’t waste money on unnecessary items that you don’t need.
Sell unwanted items around the house. There is no point in keeping items that are never or no longer being used, make use of them and sell it for some extra money.

Getting Low Grades

Strategies- if a style of studying isn’t working, then change it

Ask questions in class if a subject doesn’t make any sense.
Study with a partner or in a group. If you are studying by yourself and you come across something you don’t understand, having someone next to you could help you figure it out.
Ask what you did wrong. Find out what you did wrong this way for the next exam/quiz/essay, you don’t make the same mistake.
Use time wisely when taking a test/quiz/exam, be the first one in and the last one out.
Go over your answers a second time. Going over your answers a second time is great so this way if you come across something you did wrong you can correct it before passing it in.

Arguing with Parents

Strategies- talk to a friend about your situation

Have a family meeting, this way you can resolve the problem and keep that family atmosphere at home.
Walk Away. If arguing is constant and non-stop then separating yourself may be the best for you.
Talk to your siblings or other family members. Talking to people with in the family may help to resolve the problem quicker. A family member may address the problem and may come to the parents to fix the arguing and problem.

Missing Class because of Illness/ Injury

Strategies – Email your professor the next day. Email and ask if there was any important information missed and ask for extra time to get the work done.

Talk to your classmates that were in class that day, and ask if you could borrow their notes to catch up on missing work and lessons.
Recover so you don’t miss any more classes.