Let’s Be Honest: How Important Is Balance , Really?

Andre Young, 20 year old freshman basketball player majoring in business has made it his priority to finish school this year. Juggling seven classes, training regimens, and basketball games he must bring his best to. He obviously has a-lot on his plate – when asked how he manages it all he lets out a long sigh and admittedly states “you’ve got to make a-lot of sacrifices”. He goes on to explain the importance of setting your priorities straight, he loves playing video games but its left on the sidelines because there are more important things to get done. Through time he’s managed to have a steady routine, in the morning he wakes up around 8am. During this time he makes breakfast then head to class, training starts by 11 am, then they all have an hour lunch around 12pm. Once lunch is done they have a group study hall at 1pm and continue the schedule until 4pm. He goes on to say later on in the day he catches up on any homework that needs attention. This has been his routine since august of 2023, although it’s not perfect its stable, “it has worked out for me so far, i have mostly A’s.” . From the outside looking in this sounds great but once asked about his diet, mental health, social life balance he laughed in a guilty way. Often times he’s found himself unable to have a stable sleep schedule and even eat healthy or consistently. “It has affected me negatively at times because i don’t have enough energy to get through practice.”, but obviously he still has time to figure things out as he goes on. He’s made it a point to call his mother and friends to stay connected as well as sooth his homesickness. This is a great effort at balance but not a perfect one, thats not the point though now is it? His personal balance is to use the resources given to him through to school to succeed academically, he reconnects with family for mental stability, he finds the time to eat as much as possible to remain energized for training, and he’s attempted at finding rest in playing games and sleep when able. 

Aryelle Stevens aka Le Rose, a 20 yr old sophomore basketball player majoring in construction management is on the brink of graduating this year. Balancing academics , personal health, and social life is nothing new to her, in fact it all started sophomore year of high school. “Sophomore year of high school i took a bunch of AP classes, i didn’t have a-lot of sleep and i had to learn ‘ok, we need to find a better way to do this because i cannot be functioning on three to four hours of sleep’ so i just learned to not put that much stress on my schedule and still get ahead.” .She then mentioned how hard it was to do such classes while in sports but she been motivated by the idea of getting things done now so she can rest later all while making sure mentally and physically she’s fit, impressive right? She mentions the use of multiple alarm clocks, calendar alerts, and using canvas a-lot. Through her efforts she’s now only enrolled in one class and only shows up to school for training and basketball games. She’s made it an effort to bring the women’s basket team to nationals and graduate to matriculate into a four year university were she will receive her bachelors. No one is perfect but her example is a very close one, she’s made a personal routine that fits her lifestyle and field of interest all while making sure her mental and physical health is catered to. It took years of practice but she’s gotten to this point and it has obviously paid off. Her advice to anymore taking on sports as well as any major dealing with medicine, stem, math, and engineering was to “please take care of your mental health first” she laughs a bit and goes on to emphasize the struggle as “a battle”. A-lot of coaches encourages the players to not take it because “your not going to have time, not enough sleep- your going to be focused on that .” She brushes those comments away and says, “i think you should better yourself and push yourself if you think you are capable”.