Finals are just around the corner and with winter sports starting up, student-athletes are stressed out.
At Woodside, students must maintain a 2.0 grade point average (GPA) to participate in sports. These students have school, practice, homework, and their own personal lives to balance.
“Most days I lose sleep,” Alexandra Gonzalez, a sophomore at Woodside High School, revealed. “I have to choose between sleep and school and that’s a tough choice.”
This situation forces many students to decide between sleep, family, friends, and homework, increasing stress levels for many students.
“[Student-athletes] primed with their athlete identity had lower self-regard and performed less well on a challenging math test than did those primed with their student identity,” Darren J. A. Yopyk and Deborah A. Prentice found in a study.
One factor contributing to the students’ high-stress levels is their tight schedules. Most students’ schedules start early, at eight or nine with school and their day doesn’t end until six or seven.
“I have to get up at four every day,” Andres Rodriguez, a freshman basketball player, said. “I have to get up and get ready for school and do the rest of my homework.”
“Practice good time management,” Tim Faulkner, Woodside Athletic Director, advised. “Don’t waste a minute. That is how you can get everything done.”
With two-hour-long practices, it is understandable why student-athletes cannot get all their school work done. But it appears that the circumstances are not changing.
“It is plenty enough time to get everything done,” says Faulkner. “[They have] more than enough time, [they] just can’t waste a second.”
