When you’re a student-athlete, you live a busy life.
My name is Maddie Loomis, I’m a junior on the gymnastics team, and I’ve had to learn to organize my time in order to meet the many demands of student-athlete life.
Monday goes like this: I wake up at 6:20 a.m. for weightlifting, head to class for two hours and then have an hour break before my next class. I eat, then go visit the athletic trainers to receive treatment.
Once I finish my third class, I have about with 10 minutes to spare before practice starts. Practice ends at 4 p.m., and I rush straight from practice to my last class.
After class ends at 5 p.m. I go back and see the athletic trainers again.
We know each other well.
Time management is crucial for a student-athlete like me. Meal prep makes my weeks a lot less stressful. While proper nutrition is important, time only permits quick and fast meals. Because of this, Sundays are my best friend. I spend time cooking and organizing food so I have easy-access meals to throw in my lunchbox.
Homework and studying adds up throughout the week. Whenever I have a few moments of free time, I try to cross an assignment off my to-do list.
I do like to maintain an active social life, though, so spacing out my assignments is huge. I also can’t procrastinate and wait until the night before to throw an essay together because there’s just no time.
It’s not all bad, though.
I absorb more information by studying a bit at a time. I have found that I get better grades on my assignments from revisiting my work and I’ve learned that gives me the best chance to maintain a strong GPA.
In gymnastics, we have Wednesdays off. This is my most relaxed day of the week, but I still need to be productive. I use these days to tie up loose ends. For example, I go to the chiropractor, I might go get my car oil changed, meet with a study group, etc.
Student-athletes have the same errands to run as every other student, but almost no time to run them.
Sure life can get crazy, but staying organized is the key to making it through as a collegiate athlete. I am here to represent Southern Utah University in a positive light, and this is how I do it.
Story by: Maddie Loomis for SUU News
loomismadison@hotmail.com
Photo by: SUU Athletics Strategic Communications
