Athletes, beat year-end stress
By Cat Higgins
Charleston Catholic High School
Students everywhere are counting down the days until summer vacation. Unfortunately, as the number of days left gets smaller, the amount of work seems to get larger.
Many students find the research papers, book reports and projects piling up. Plus, there are finals to be studied for. And for some, that lengthy list is topped off by spring sports competitions. Student-athletes at Charleston Catholic will tell you that balancing schoolwork with sports is no easy task, especially near the end of the school year.
“It’s pretty hard. You have finals to study for, homework to do and championships to focus on,” said sophomore Kirsten Mullins, a sprinter on the Irish track team.
Both teachers and coaches demand your best effort in everything you do. This can be difficult when you feel like you have a million things happening at once.
Not only do student-athletes need to worry about school and homework, but they’ve also got to think about keeping themselves in shape for their sports (eating well, staying hydrated, preventing injuries, etc.) as well as balancing both their sports responsibilities and their school duties.
End-of-the-year stress can get to anyone, but student-athletes are particularly susceptible. Here are some tips to help you manage your time and keep yourself feeling good throughout the day.
1. Eat breakfast. If you don’t have time to sit down and eat cereal, buy some energy bars (see the article at right for some good options) or grab a banana to eat on the way to school. It is important to have food in your stomach to last until lunch.
2. When there is free time in class, use it. Don’t sit around staring out the window or gossiping with friends; get out your homework so you can get a head start on it. That way, when you get home from practice, you won’t have as much work to do.
3. If you know you are going to have a competition, try to get as much work as possible done the night before. Nobody wants to have to do homework during a meet or game, and, chances are, you’re not going to feel like doing it when you get home, either.
4. Use the weekends for long-term projects. Not many people find time to work on research papers and other major projects during the week, so that’s what the weekends are for.
You don’t have to spend your whole weekend working, but try to set a timeline and accomplish specific amounts of work each weekend so you don’t have to rush to finish your project the night before it’s due.
5. Do not let yourself think about schoolwork while you are doing your sport. Focus on what you are doing and enjoy it the best you can.
6. Don’t stress over mistakes you have made, whether in a baseball game or on a big test. Learn from your mistakes and move on. If you are too busy dwelling on things you did wrong in the past, you won’t be able to focus on what you are doing in the present.
7. Give yourself time to relax. Yes, it might seem like you have so much to do that you don’t have time to take a break, but it’s important to make sure that you have a little bit of downtime each day to unwind. So watch your favorite TV show or take a nap. Eat a bowl of ice cream!
8. Most importantly, get an adequate amount of sleep. Most students are often doing so much that they forget how important sleep is.
Getting enough sleep will put you in a better mood and help you concentrate better in class. Also, getting enough rest is important to let your body recover from hard practices or on days before competitions.
As the end of the year approaches, make sure you are doing all you can to keep yourself healthy. Don’t let school or sports stress you out. Remember, summer will be here in only a few weeks.
