By: Ishan Godbharle

Being a student athlete is a great mix of being rewarded and challenged at the same time. Managing Workouts practice homework assignments, exams, etc. is often challenging for students who do academics and sports at the same time at West Virginia Wesleyan college student athletes are expected to maintain a good balance between academics and athletics

 Students often have busy schedules which makes it easy for them to fall behind on assignments or classwork especially when the students are in their athletic season. Hence, it’s very important for student athletes to have an organized schedule. At West Virginia Wesleyan college many athletes have said that this busy schedule helps them to be disciplined, organized and responsible for themselves.

Takuya Kobayashi, a student athlete and a resident assistant at West Virginia Wesleyan college, said that balancing all three of these things is sometimes challenging for him but it has helped him a lot with planning things better and making quick decisions. “Being a student athlete is a bit difficult because you have responsibilities in academics as well as you have to keep performing in athletics,’ Kobayashi said. “You have to always keep track of your time and stay focused even when you are tired after practice or burned out after exams.” 

Kobayashi also said that managing two very difficult things at the same time has helped him a lot to grow as a person.” Playing sports for such a long time has taught me how to handle pressure and that also reflects when I must study a lot of material for exams’, he said. 

The lifestyle of student athletes is a bit more stressful than regular students hence many student athletes believe that this experience prepares them for the future and helps them provide a path to the world outside school.

Photo by: Cayley Symons