84 How to Balance Mental Health with Being a Student Athlete
Anonymous
We all know how difficult being an athlete is. The long practices and constant workout sessions. Waking up sore after a hard practice can take a toll. We all know how tough it is being a student that must deal with multiple class loads at once. Now imagine the dilemmas the students that must be a part of both of these worlds must be facing. Their mental health would be under constant duress due to constantly having to balance them. That is where I come in and give students advice on how to deal with these problems.
In order to help future students, I have prepared three different resources that allow someone such as myself to see different viewpoints on this topic. The first resource is a list of things to do in order to reduce stress while being a student athlete. Although this webpage is mainly about fencing, the topics discussed can be used across all sports. On this page they discuss 8 different ways a student athlete can balance school. The list goes as follows:
1.Maintain excellent communication with your teachers. – Let them know whenever you have something going on that can interfere with class or if you require extra help
2.Keep a calendar of all assignment due dates and test dates. – List out all the dates of you due dates for assignments and when you have exams. This is important so you do not fall behind on assignment.
3.Use your time wisely. -Do not mess around when you have free time, take care of what needs to be done so you don’t end up stressing about it later.
4.Procrastination is a bad word. – Procrastination is a risky thing. Waiting until the last minute can cause stress and be detrimental to the quality of one’s work.
5.Consider using a tutor. – Tutors are there for a reason, to tutor you, so using them when you are having trouble understanding something can be a very valuable asset to get good grades.
6.Have the right attitude. – You can only do as good as you make yourself do. If you believe you can’t your right and if you believe you CAN you’re right.
7.Work with your academic counselor. – Academic counselors can help you maintain your grades and plan on how to improve them. This is very helpful in strategizing how to approach each class.
8.Ask your friends for help. – Friends can help you make studying fun and having some company when working on school can help make it less stressful.
For my second resource I decided to interview a fellow student athlete and a football coach. I asked them both for tips on how to balance school and athletics.
“It is very tough being a student athlete, it’s not like being any other student. It is all about being organized in both. In order to maintain mental health, you gotta have a plan. Do not procrastinate. This will relieve stress. Stressing about academics will show in your sport. Communicate with your coaches about any problems so that they can help you out. It’s all about communication, dependability, and organization.” (Coach Lucas, UPIKE Football Coach)
“For me, being successful on the field as well as the classroom is all about
Finding time to be better at both. Find time to get better at football, while also making time for classes.” –(Jack Barczack, Roommate)
For my final resource I have included a quote from a psychologist in order to get a professional’s point of view. Common symptoms of stress are anxiety, fear, irritability, anger, resentment, loss of confidence. Also drinking too much caffeine or alcohol to cope could be a symptom as well.
In order to combat this, psychologists recommend meditation or other relaxation exercises. As well as altering your lifestyle in hopes to accommodate the stress inducing thing in your life and isolating it so that it doesn’t affect you as much. This includes exercise, getting a good amount of sleep, connecting with others about your feelings, and altering your thinking style to more realistic standards and goals you can complete.
SOURCES
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hide-and-seek/201702/how-reduce-stress