Life of a Muhlenberg athlete: balance of school and sport

Athletes at Muhlenberg are used to running around on and off their sport’s facility. Throughout the day, athletes are running around campus to and from class, practice, games, and meals. For many athletes, their sport, at all levels of participation, may lead to changes in lifestyles and routines.

Time management is extremely important for many athletes on campus. Between practice, games, lifting, conditioning, eating, other extracurricular activities…. and most importantly our studies, finding a balance to most efficiently take advantage of the 24 hours of the day is a difficult task. “Time management is really tough as a student athlete, for you have to prioritize schoolwork then sport,” explained a two-sport athlete, Bobby Merle ‘19. Merle, who plays football and baseball, is studying to receive his education certificate while also majoring in history. He added, “I try to plan and get future assignments completed as early as possible for I know the work can pile up really quickly.”

I am sure every athlete can think back to a time where an administrator, professor, teacher, or even a parent was giving him or her some kind of talk and spoke the famous line, “it’s called a student-athlete. Not athlete-student.” For me, these words were just a reminder not to fail any classes and just another annoying phrase to roll my eyes at. However, at Muhlenberg I feel that line becoming more and more relevant every day. For an athlete, like Timmy Pilrun ‘18 who makes sure he truly wants to be a part of everything that he is involved in, “I balance it by staying passionate about everything that I do. If you’re not going to give 100 percent effort then why bother. I make a conscious effort to find enjoyment in all aspects of my schedule so it doesn’t seem like work.” For Pilrun, eliminating activities that he doesn’t feel passion about reduces the stress of balancing multiple activities. After all, it is a lot easier to be engaged when you can enjoy what you are doing. Finding a routine that an athlete can fall into and feel comfortable with is the easiest way to deal with a busy schedule, no matter the activities a student is involved with. Mules’ Track and Field sprinter Mike Bessette ‘19 studies business administration with a concentration in marketing and psychology. To get into his routine, Bessette opts to “make a schedule of when I am going to do each homework assignment, and then if I have any free time it goes to social life.” Basketball guard Brenden Hughes ‘19 has a similar strategy to fall into some sort of routine, “before the week so on Sunday, I try and sit down and figure out exactly what is due, when it’s due, and when I can get it done.” Routines may be hard to find, especially since everyone is different, but once an athlete falls into that grove it significantly helps their daily life. Scheduling at Muhlenberg is a topic many athletes go back and forth on.

Some haven’t had a tough time at all. Hughes claimed, “I find it pretty easy to register and plan out my schedule. I have gotten very lucky!” However, not all have had the same luck Hughes acknowledges. “It’s very hard to register for classes especially when I was an underclassmen,” mentioned Pilrun. “A lot of courses are not offered at a time that in conducive to working with an athlete’s schedule.” “Although academics come first, I take being a part of my team very seriously and having to take a class that would cause me to miss practice or games is unacceptable for me. Athletes are treated as any other student and the strict time constraints are not taken into account by the college,” he added. I have to say, an almost magical characteristic about athletics is their ability to totally capture an athlete’s attention. For some, athletics teach children and adults lessons. “Being a student athlete teaches you how to handle a busy full time schedule. It’s taught me how to know when you have to put schoolwork before social,” says Merle. Pilrun agreed saying, “Time management is a skill that everyone needs to be successful in the real world. Dedicating over 20 hours a week towards baseball has forced me to manage my time because I simply do not have extra time to waste.” Hughes reiterated these sentiments when talking about athletics teaching valuable time management lessons, “being an athlete makes it so that you have to be good at delegating your time efficiently. Also it’s a negative because sports takes up so much time so you have less to delegate.” Others may think athletics are simply a hassle and major time commitment. But sports are a break for some athletes. It is a way to put the textbook down and release daily stress for a couple of hours each day. Sports are a method of staying active while doing an activity the athlete loves. For me and many other Mules, Muhlenberg athletics make my day more full and adds to the never-ending stresses of academia. But under no circumstance would I ever give it up.