Finding the balance between athletics and academics is the key to being a successful student athlete.
The student athletes at Colorado Mesa University (CMU) are making sure that before they hit the field they are hitting the books and that they put the “student” in “student athlete” first and foremost.
Ashton Whittle- Women’s Lacrosse
Women’s lacrosse senior midfielder Ashton Whittle is also a nursing student here at CMU. For her, being a nursing student is important to her and her identity as well as being an athlete.
“Being a student athlete here is important to me as a person, it is my identity as well. It makes me work really hard in the classroom as well as on the field because I feel like they directly translate in a sense, because if I am not performing my best in the classroom I really can’t be performing on the field, so it is definitely finding a balance between that,” Whittle said.
She has found that her competitive drive in lacrosse has also helped her in the nursing program by being able to take on multiple things at once as well as being prepared for anything that is put in front of her.
As a nursing student, the Mavericks attacker has a grueling schedule with making sure she has completed her clinicals in the nursing program while making sure she is there for her team as well. While preparing for her clinicals, Whittle reflected on her priorities in being a student athlete.
“It has definitely been difficult, especially with clinical scheduling, but I had to have a real reflection moment and kind of weigh my priorities, and we are student athletes. Being a student comes first,” Whittle said. “ I had a conversation with my coach and we came up with a great schedule where I would be able to make it to most practices on most days and once I am progressing in the program the schedule with nursing gets tighter and tighter and with lacrosse sometime there are sacrifices you have to make but at the end of the day the coaching staff knows that you are a student first.”
Whittle also was fortunate enough to have former teammates go through the nursing program, so she was able to get advice from them on how to balance both disciplines at once.
Remington Green- Football
Being a student athlete means a lot to senior Remington Green. Being from a small town, Green is not only doing this for himself but for his family and his community.
“I come from a very small family in a very small town in King George, Virginia. I come from a Small family and nobody has really done what I have done in my family and even in my community. Getting an education is very important. I feel like I’m doing something to better my community, to better myself, and I’m kind of setting those standards,” Green said.
The goals that Green has set for himself in the classroom are a reflection of how hard he works on the football field.
“I realized when I got into college [that] academics were important because it got into my mind that anything could happen to me. If something happens to my body where I can’t play football anymore and I don’t have the opportunity to do that, my education… is what I am going to fall back on to make money for my family and do what I want to do outside of football.”
It is very competitive. The professors are always on you, they are making sure that you are putting forth the best effort. I really translate that onto the field because I want to be the best. I am a defensive guy, I wanna make every tackle. I wanna be the best that there is and I try to apply as much as I can in the classroom. My class work is a reflection of what I do on the field as well.” Green said.
Austin Lorenz- Baseball
With the NCAA giving athletes an extra year of eligibility, left-handed pitcher Austin Lorenz is taking advantage of this extra year but is taking a different approach to his academics.
Lorenz is having to balance school, work and baseball as well as preparing for his next steps in life.
“I graduated in the spring but I am not doing a masters program, I am just taking more undergraduate classes. I’m taking Kinesiology classes that really are not that difficult. I am picking up more work and I think that is where it is going to be more difficult with baseball because we start practice at three and they want me at work until three,” Lorenz said.
For Lorenz and the rest of the baseball team, the season is not only in the spring; they use the fall to work on their skills during practice and their intrasquad scrimmages. This means that they have to find the right balance between school and sports all year long.
“It is a lot of time management. I learned a lot about how to do it in high school. I was almost as busy as I am in college. You [had to] go to school from eight to three then you practice for a couple of hours then go do a workout, and you have homework and when you are taking AP classes those aren’t easy either. I kind of got used to that schedule. I enjoy being busy. I thrive off of it. I work a lot better when I have a schedule. I think that it is a lot of time management and having those priorities set,” Lorenz said.
When asked about the advice they would give to the freshman and sophomore student athletes about being a student athlete in college; Whittle, Green and Lorenz all talked about making sure you don’t procrastinate and time management is key. They also talked about how important communication is with your professors and your coaches.
