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!!
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