Whitney, on the one hand loves being a student (she loves to learn) and also loves being an athlete, but as she said the other day it's very stressful at times being a student-athlete in college. While she does a winter sport her season is very long especially now that she's in Maine. Her dry land training starts in mid-October in the gym and outside. Being in Maine the snow season is long but thankfully the competitive season isn't quite the same length. Snow starts falling in late October and lasts until late April or May but on-slope practices don't start until late November. The competitive season runs from January through early April so that makes for a long season. She's working for her sport from mid-October until April, all the while trying to go to class, study, and keep up her grades. I think she'll be happy in mid-April just to hit the slopes and have some fun on them, not trying to perfect her landing or find the right line.
Her dad and I are so proud of all she's accomplished, both in the classroom and on the slopes. She's working so hard to learn and good grades are the benefit of all her hard work. She's also working really hard on her sport, to better herself, to be a top competitor. There is a downside to all of this - lots of stress. In some ways I'm glad I'm far away; she's had to figure out how to balance school, snowboarding, her meager social life on her own which has been a great growing experience. It would be nice to be closer to be able to give her a hug when everything gets overwhelming but she knows we're here and she can call anytime to dump on us about the stresses of life.
One thing I really appreciate about UMF is the professors. She is very proactive in talking with them at the beginning of the semester and letting them know when she'll be gone for snowboarding events and they all have been more than willing to work with her. I realize that since she's in a school sponsored sport they kind of have to work with her but I think they're happy to because they see she's a dedicated student and is trying to work with them. Not all students will tell the professor on day 2 of class when they'll be gone later in the semester. The other good thing about this particular semester is that she's got three professors that she's had before so they know her and know she'll get the work done, either while she's gone or as soon as she's back.
It's hard to balance classes, studying, projects and papers, friends, practice, competitions some of which are far away, but she's finding her way. Stress, unfortunately, is a college student's best friend and adding a sport into the mix of the usual college stressors just ups the anxiety and stress. The wins and support of your family and teammates make it worth it. Rising in the ranks of the competition world make it worth it. Figuring out balance in your life is a great learning experience especially for those reaching for the stars.
For us, as parents, it's great to see her pushing herself in her academics and her sport. It makes it even better to see her succeeding in both. It's also pretty great to see other people supporting her and acknowledging her hard work. Her coaches at Massanutten have told us how proud they are of her and what she's doing in snowboarding. In a "crazy how small the world is" situation I heard from my sister from some of her connections that Whitney is highly spoken of at school for how well she's doing in academics and snowboarding. It's always nice to hear that kind of stuff.
Here's to her continued success in everything she does!
No comments:
Post a Comment