student life

The Balancing Act: Part III--Life as a Student Athlete

Kayla Ronda, freshman Lady YellowJacket, talks about the transition from life in Arizona to life in Texas, the juggle between missing classes and keeping up with homework, and the exciting new chapter of college life and college volleyball.

My name is Kayla Ronda and I am from Chandler, Arizona.  I am a freshman here at LeTourneau University and I am studying Business Marketing.  I also play on the Lady Yellow Jackets Women's Volleyball team.  As a student-athlete, I have been able to experience LeTourneau student life from
many different perspectives.

Coming in as a freshman, I didn't know what to expect from a college standpoint.  I was nervous at
first, and wondered how my transition would be from Arizona to Texas, how I would deal with being away from home, and how I would juggle my busy schedule.  However, after my first few days at LeTourneau, I knew this was the school for me.

The professors here at LeTourneau are very understanding of my schedule, and have played a huge role in the ease of my transition and ability to stay on track.  Because of my busy volleyball schedule, I was traveling almost every weekend which resulted in me missing many Friday classes.  When I first looked at how many classes I was going to miss, I was worried I wouldn't be able to keep up in both school and volleyball.  But, by keeping in good contact with my professors and the fact that they are so open and flexible, I have been able to stay on track.

LeTourneau is everything I could have hoped for from a college experience.  Even though I'm only a freshman, I have already had the chance to experience some of the great aspects on campus -- the bonding that goes on in each dorm, the friendly and positive atmosphere, and the many opportunities there are to get involved on campus and in the community.  I look forward to the rest of my college career and can't wait to see where God leads me here at LeTourneau!

 

Kayla Ronda (#4) gets ready for an attack at the net. Go YellowJackets!

The Balancing Act: Part II--Life as a Student Athlete

Peter Martin, a junior Mechanical Engineer and cross-country runner, writes of the challenges and joys of being a student athlete.

5:30 a.m. More than enough time to get dressed and be at practice by 6, but after finishing homework only 5 hours ago, my brain refuses to function. The routine is slow even though I’ve been doing it for 6 years. Sleep in my clothes. Fall out of bed. Pull on my socks. Tie my shoes. Stumble to the door. Think about how nice it would be to still be sleeping while I walk through the crisp morning air to join my teammates. It will all be over soon and I’ll miss it then – not the early mornings, and not necessarily the long runs, but the time spent with friends made close by the gruesome training, the
lack of sleep and the common complaints.

Our cross country team is as close as any other athletic team and probably weirder than most. People don’t understand why we “like” running and most of the time we don’t either. It’s a love/hate relationship. We love going out to eat before or after a race. We hate Louisiana’s bumpy roads
that make it impossible to stay asleep on the bus. We love laughing with each other on the warm up laps before practice. We hate getting up at 4 a.m. on a Saturday to race, returning at 1 in the afternoon and finding our roommates still asleep. We love beating our times on a great course. We hate the injuries that seem almost inevitable. But we wouldn’t quit. We know our teammates need us to endure with them. And most of us rely on it to keep us sane in a rigorous academic schedule.

Being a student-athlete is hard. How hard depends on which sport and which major you choose. For me the energy sapping cross country training paired with the 16 hours of mechanical engineering, an average for most non-athletes, can be too much. Sometimes I can’t balance it and my grades fall. I am constantly reminded that I am here to get an education not just to run. Staying awake in class is probably the hardest part. Running for two hours in the morning after insufficient sleep definitely makes it a challenge to not nod off. Our coach understands though and will occasionally grant us permission to run in the afternoon so we can study later or get more sleep for tests. We are fortunate to have a coach who emphasizes academics over athletics.

My favorite memory from this season has to be the Gator Run in Shreveport, Louisiana where both the men and women placed 1^st as a team. It was a good race to relax a little and run faster, not worrying about pace as much as other races and getting to compete in a 5,000 meter race instead of the traditional 8,000 meters. I look forward to running it again next year.

Our team is very strong this year. We only have one senior on the team this year and although we will miss him next year, it is exciting to know we will be stronger and faster as a team. We all have high hopes for the 2013 season.

 

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Peter (far right) and his teammates after the Gator Run in Shreveport, Louisiana, where both men and women's team took first place. Go YellowJackets!!

The Balancing Act: Part I--Life as a Student Athlete

Grace Peterson, a junior flight major, talks about her first semester as a student athlete. Here's a little glimpse into what her life is like.

Tuesdays are my longest day, period. The day technically started at midnight, trying to get some last bits of information in my head for my 7a.m. test. At 6:28a.m. I already felt like I was starting my day late as I climbed out of bed. The test went fine; it was all fill in the blank which was new for this professor. Since then I have had 3 classes and two labs. Tonight after my 6-9 class I will head to the soccer fields to finish practice with the team, tonight practice is from 8-10. So by far and away, Tuesdays are the longest, a 15 hour day, but who’s counting?

As a junior and this being my first year playing soccer I think my experience is different from most student athletes at LeTourneau. But despite this deviation from the norm there are some things that will ring true regardless of major, year, position or your original stomping grounds. Balancing athletics and school is hard (granted for some majors, or brains, this task could be easier or harder). My body is tired in a way that it has not been in my past 4 semesters. Time that had previously been used for studying or social time is now spent on the soccer field or the gym. Sophomore year I was taking 18 hours and going through a rigorous flight syllabus, that semester I redefined social time as homework time with friends. I guess this is a similar semester; social time is now hanging out with the team. Honestly that has been my favorite part of joining the soccer team. My world of airplanes and fellow classmates opened to freshman, sophomores and seniors from all over pursuing different majors.
Everybody talks about the bus trips; this is definitely prime time for team bonding and making memories. Our first road trip I felt like a little kid again, had I packed everything? Who would I sit with on the bus? The questions were goofy but I still had to work through them. Actually one of my favorite memories was on the first road trip. We were in Arkansas, we passed out pretty early at night but the next morning me and my roommates just goofed around before our game that afternoon. It was fun getting to know them, laughing together and growing close as a team.

I am glad I chose to play soccer this semester. Yes it has challenged me in new ways, but my experience with the team has been priceless.

 

 

Grace (#18) fighting for the ball during a home game. Go YellowJackets!!