Tiger Sports Network

The balancing act that student-athletes have to make is not as easy as they make it seem. As a junior atDoaneCollege, I have come to find that many of the things I do today are not what I happened to do when I was freshman in my first year away from home. As a freshman I had a lot on my plate. I was trying to climb up the depth chart in my sport, learn the campus, figure out what my teachers wanted from me, but most of all adapt to the new area I was a part of.

 All of these things I no longer have to worry about as a junior. I am well known and at the top of the roster for my position, I know campus like it was the back of my hand, I know all the teachers and what they expect and I am very heavily entrenched within the Doane community like most upper classmen. Naturally, this took a while to get done. For me it took almost two years, for others it takes longer and for some it may be shorter.

As freshman come toDoaneCollegemany of them will have the same challenges as me or even some that I may not have experienced. What I found throughout my freshman year is that I was not alone. Away from home and from everything familiar can really make you feel like you are the only one going through what you are. However, as you get more involved and acquainted with the school and the people around it you begin to settle in; realizing that there are others in the same boat as you.

Unfortunately, there is no slowing down while you are figuring this out. As an athlete you are expected to perform at a very high level as well as keeping up at the high level of academics that Doane provides.

My advice is simply to embrace the chaos that may be happening in your life at this time. You will figure it out and when you finally do you will be able to relax a little bit and do exactly what you came to Doane for; to make your mark on the school as a STUDENT-ATHLETE.