The athletic department puts strong emphasis on the fact that the student comes first in “student athlete.” While they are here to represent the university on their sports teams, there is an expectation to manage their academics as well.

Some student athletes excel at this expectation. This past fall semester there were six that achieved 4.0 GPAs. Three of these athletes were freshman in their first collegiate semester, Daniel Ault from (men’s golf), Zach Chodnicki (cross country), and Alana Koepf (cross country). Along with those freshmen, sophomore Tyler Janish (baseball), fifth year Serena San Cartier (track and field), and sophomore Elizabeth Girordot (track and field) also attained 4.0s.

For Janish, his schedule consisted of classes to help him reach his goal of becoming a physical therapist. “I definitely had a tough schedule,” Janish said. “Chem 2 was my hardest class. In order to be successful, I would familiarize myself with the concepts instead of just memorizing the steps.”

“My hardest class was calc,” Koepf said.  “I spent a lot of time studying, doing practice problems and going to APM tutoring.”

San Cartier’s situation is a little different than the other athletes. After playing her four years with the women’s soccer team, she is now competing in her final year of eligibility on the track and field team. She is a fifth year student, taking psychology classes after taking four years of health science credits.

“It was tricky because it was very different than what I had been taking in the past,” San Cartier said. “I did an independent research project with a professor this semester so that was very time consuming.”

Time management is a skill that goes hand in hand in being a successful student athlete. This becomes all the more important when the athletes’ sport is in season. One big obstacle facing these student athletes is travel. “Travel definitely makes everything harder,” Janish said. “You try and get things done on the bus but there’s always movies playing or people talking.”

For some student athletes, however, the challenge of being busy during the season can work as an advantage.

“When you are always busy you have to be good with your time management. There is no time to be lazy so it can be easier to get your stuff done,” San Cartier said.

When in season, there is no time to get lazy. It can be easier to be productive when homework must be done immediately.

Being committed to both their academics and the teams causes trouble for many student athletes. “It’s definitely not for everyone,” San Cartier said.