Athlete

Headed into my freshman year of college, I was given a plethora of helpful tips and advice from a wide variety of people. Teachers, friends, relatives, siblings, and parents all gave different snippets of their experiences; what to avoid, what to do and what to watch out for. My mother would remind me about clean underwear. My dad would remind me about washing behind my ears. My brother told me to lie as much as possible because no one would ever find out the truth. One recurring tip from all was time management; finding the perfect balance of a successful academic life and a successful social life. The magic of time management is the will power and self discipline to plan ahead, avoid procrastination, and turn in quality work on time. All of this is supposed to happen while experiencing the “typical college lifestyle.” Being a semester and a half into my college career, I can say I’ve finally found the right balance, the perfect formula for fun and school work. But what is the “typical college lifestyle” for a college athlete, who devotes his or her entire life to the school’s various athletic teams? This adds a third area in which time management, success, and balance are a must. My whole life, I wanted nothing more to be a college athlete. I was on the right path to do just that until injuries derailed my football career. Now all I can do is ponder what could have been and wonder how my college life would differ had I been an athlete. To get to the bottom of this and to find answers, I decided to ask friends and coaches from home, all of whom play or played sports at the collegiate level. My goal was to see how these student athletes maintain success in their three fields (athletics, academics, and social) compared to the average student (social and academic).

The people I chose to interview for my answers are as follows:

Michael Chiaravalloti – Former baseball player (First basemen) at Iona College, D1
Sarah Prezioso – Current softball player (shortstop)...