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College can be both one of the happiest and hardest times of a person’s life. It’s a place where they get to make new friends and to discover who they are away from their family and hometown. However, it is also a place where they go to pursue their passions and take five courses per semester with the goal of finishing with their name on a diploma.
College is hard for every student, so one can only imagine what it’s like for a student-athlete. College athletes not only have to go to classes and do homework but also have to practice, workout, and compete. It can become like a job.
On top of this, these athletes can’t shirk any of their responsibilities. They have to do well in their classes to maintain their athletic eligibility, and they have to give their all in practice to make their case to their coaches that they deserve to be on the field.
These duties can be overwhelming and stressful because of all the pressure to be successful and to operate at 100 percent all the time. I was there not that long ago, and I remember the commitments, the feeling of exhaustion after the end of a long day. Managing it all wasn’t easy, but it was worth it. I played college softball for four years and graduated with a degree in journalism which I’m now getting to use my platform to help others. God has been good.
One thing that needs to be said about juggling both school and sports is that there is not a one-size-fits-all way to deal with the stress and weight of it all. Different athletes use different tactics. Two of these athletes are Sabetha Sands, a senior catcher at Southeastern Oklahoma State University, and Macey Neal, a senior infielder at Union University.
Sands is majoring in biology with minors in psychology and business. Biology is one of the more difficult majors in a college curriculum. There are numerous labs that go along with the lectures and finding a way to schedule those hours where you can still be at the majority of practices is a tough feat. However, Sands has been able to work through this and still compete at a high level. In fact, she was a key piece on the Southeastern team last year when they won the Great American Conference (GAC) Championship.
“Controlling the controllable is key in this lifestyle,” Sands said. “As an athlete, working closely with your professors and having a great bond with them allows you to create a schedule that accommodates to your sport and travel days – as you miss class more than anticipated. Staying organized, prioritizing tasks, and using any available resources have helped me thus far. It’s all about finding a good balance and staying focused to be successful in both school and your sport.”
Neal is an exercise science major, who is not only a full-time student and athlete but also makes Christian apparel on the side. She is successful in all three of these pursuits, and last season, she even had a career year being named Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) honorable mention All-American and Gulf South Conference (GSC) First Team All-Conference.
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