Aaron Johnson – Sports Editor
It is that time of the year once again. The semester is coming to a close and students are cramming, studying and clocking in those late hours to make sure they pass their finals.
Southern student-athletes are in the exact same boat, only they have a hectic schedule filled with practices, workouts and games.
“There are times depending on your practice schedule when you have to stay up late at night to study or find time during breaks in your day,” said junior Stefon Williams, a forward on the men’s basketball team. “The hardest time to study is when we have road games; we get back so late so you have no choice but to study on the bus.”
Student-athletes face many of the same problems that all many students face during this time of the year. When professors begin to assign those final project days and students are running around getting ready to study all night. For junior track and field player Ariana Rivera, those are the hardest parts to find time to get all that studying in along with training for the start of the season.
“I’m learning how to balance everything,” she said. “The way my classes are, track practice and trying to do homework and stuff, I’ve gotten better towards the end of the semester. But it’s just organization and knowing your schedule. Knowing when to study and when not to.”
Student-athletes have a slight advantage that some students may not have going into the hectic finals week. Several student-athletes are able to rely on each other for assistance with studying, forming study groups and even turning the final test into a little bit of a friendly competition. Williams said that is something he and his teammates have been guilty of in the past, but it is all in good fun.
“We can always help each other and there’s always that little competition to get the higher grade if you’re in the same class as someone even though we don’t officially a competition,” he said. “But it helps a lot because if someone doesn’t understand something.”
However, for some students the toughest part of getting ready for finals is learning to juggle the lifestyle of being a student and also an athlete. Junior track player Georgette Nixon said this was her biggest test when she first got to Southern, but she realized the importance of performing in the classroom, as well as, on the track.
“My freshman year I found great difficulty with balancing my schoolwork,” she said. “I didn’t know how to put a lot of effort into each thing equally. I put more towards track then school so then my schooling went down.”
Nixon also said she feels confident this year because she has found a way to do both her school work and track workout so she is successful in both endeavors.
“But this is my third year. So I think I’ve finally found a balance after my first two years,” she said with a laugh.
When it comes down to it at Southern, student-athletes are students first and athletes second. So a quality education is just as important as performing well on the tracks, fields and courts. Williams said although being both an athlete and a student has its struggles, he knows the real reason he is here.
“It’s hard,” he said. “But I just remind myself that school is my first priority and teachers are not gonna feel sorry for me and expect me to get my work in regardless, if we had a road trip or not.”
