What does a person who does sports while trying to manage school assignments and grades wish the school did differently? Well, that’s what I wondered and why I decided to interview Nuview Bridge Volleyball athlete Lillian Tarula.
The first thing I wanted to ask Lillian was, “How do going to games affect your classes?” To this she replied,“Some of the last few classes could be core classes and by missing those classes a lot you could fall behind pretty significantly.” This can be pretty rough on students who may not do their school work at home, so I asked her what would help student athletes who struggle with this problem. “I think the school could just make sure that the teachers post exactly what they did in class that day,” she replied. With this she believes it would help students who are in sports as well as students who may miss school or a specific class often.
So now what else would she do at home other than homework? I asked her this and she answered, “Outside of school I used to play for a couple different volleyball clubs … but I stopped playing for club because it got super stressful and made me not enjoy the sport as much.” Since she stopped playing volleyball at home she found new hobbies to have fun and get a break from everything else. These hobbies she explained were, “reading, watching movies, and crafts”. Still she practices volleyball at home sometimes but the time spent practicing is very minimal at home, “I do practice at home but only for about 30 minutes to an hour per week.” Lillian is still able to find time to practice her sport but she doesn’t spend much time at home to leave time for her to be able to do other activities.
Seeming like a tight schedule with sports and grades, I then asked her “What’s your routine at home before and after school?” to which she replied, “Some days I have morning practice so on these days I wake up at four in the morning, prepare my stuff for school and leave at 4:40.” This can be a big change on many peoples regular routines and is definitely something that takes time to get used to. “After school I get home, eat, do homework, take a shower then go to sleep around 11:30 or 12,” she explained. Keeping this routine consistent, she is able to do her work at home and keep her grades up. Because time at home is limited she makes sure she does her work the same day it was assigned so she doesn’t have to worry about it later.
“What advice would you give to people who plan on doing sports in the future?” was the next thing I asked. “I would just give them the advice to try not to get stressed out,” Lillian stated. Because she was able to get the material from the class(es) that she missed out on, she was able to keep her grade up without quitting her sport. “Also, don’t procrastinate on homework because then you’ll stay up all night and always feel tired,” was another piece of advice she gave. Learning from experience, this advice is stuff she wasn’t told and what she wished she would have known when starting sports. Still, Lillian was able to go the whole volleyball season with good grades and starting most of the games she went to. This is just a piece of what many student athletes go through or do to make sure they are stable between school and their sports.
