Balancing school and travel sports can be stressful. As a student athlete who’s expected to make all A’s, I have lot of pressure on me. I play club volleyball, and it practices in November and tournaments in December. This means that I have practice at least twice a week for club and then 5 times a week for school sports not counting games or tournaments.
Second semester is always harder than first semester because I’m having to balance softball, basketball, track, tennis and club volleyball. Also, since I’m a sophomore, I take Honors English, geometry, and chemistry, which are arguably the hardest classes I’ve taken so far.
In order to keep my head up and continue to be successful, I have had to learn how to communicate with my teachers. Thankfully, my teachers understand that I’m involved in many different extracurricular activities, so they work around my schedule. I always notify my teachers at least a day in advance if I won’t be present in their class. They usually either give me work, or we find a time we are both free to work.
Another way I’m successful is by getting rest. With all the sports and work I do, I always make sure to get at least seven hours of sleep. I don’t usually have the weekends off, but when I do, I let my body rest. Whether I just lie around all day or I hang out with friends, it helps relieve my stress.
My friends are mostly in the same sports as me so when I do need extra assistance on assignments, they are always happy to help me. Whenever I get all stressed out, I always just remind myself that I’m not alone in my stress. Whenever I need encouragement or help, I can always rely on my friends or even my mom. My mom always helps me with different things and provides me with good food to keep up my energy.
Eating well also affects my ability to keep up. If I eat junk food all day, I don’t feel very productive thus I won’t do any of my school work. Drinking water and eating healthy help my body be able to function with all of my different activities.
Even though I’m a very busy kid, I have certain ways to keep me encouraged. Whenever I get stressed out, I always have to stop and remind myself that everything will be okay. What’s going on in my life right now honestly won’t even matter to me in 10 years.