The John Adams student-athletes have a lot to juggle to remain successful. Whether they’re on or off the court or field these athletes get the job done. The pressure on student-athletes isn’t confined to just doing their best in a game or at practice but to do their best in the classroom as well. To be a student-athlete at John Adams, school comes first. Interviewing three student-athletes with three different course classes, honors, partial IB, and full IB;  the same seven questions were asked, and their responses show how they succeed in their busy lives.

This year, Landen Wiggins is taking all honors classes while playing for the boys soccer team. Landen spoke about his anticipation before each soccer match.“I would say an 8, it’s mainly excited nerves and just can’t wait to play the game!” He also stated his emotions remain happy because it is soccer season. “[I’m] happy, it’s soccer season and school isn’t that hard right now.” During away games, Landen mentions that he gets home from matches as late as 9 or 10 pm. In contrast to home games, Landen said that he gets home around 8 or 9 pm. Averaging from one to two classes worth of work, Landen spends around 30 minutes to an hour on schoolwork each night.  His advice he would give to student-athletes would be to spend your time productively. “I would say to use all opportunities you have to do your work in class rather than after, it gives you more free time which is good for you and brings water to school so you aren’t dehydrated at games!” 

Lauren Quiroz is a varsity girls’ volleyball player as well as a partial IB student.  Nerves were never something that bothered Lauren before her games. “Before a volleyball game I never really get nervous. I would say my nerves are a 1/10, just because I have been playing since I was in 3rd grade.” Throughout the week she mentions the stress flows but quickly ends during game time.

“The emotion I feel throughout the week is stressed. I feel stressed because I always worry about doing my best in the game for my team and also getting my school work done on time.” During away games, Lauren said she gets home around 10:30 pm on a good night. “If the game starts later than usual or we play for 5 sets, I get home at 11.” With home games, the nights are not too different for her. “Whenever we have home games I usually get home around 10.” After late game nights and tiring practices, Lauren normally receives homework every day and spends roughly two hours on homework. Advice Lauren would give to other student-athletes would be to prioritize your time. “prioritize school work if you can work ahead then plan the opportunity to do so, prepare for school the night before, take advantage of the weekend to reorganize for the upcoming week and prioritize sleep. Also don’t forget to spend time with family, friends and yourself.”

Mable Ferdig is a full IB student on top of playing for the girl’s soccer team. Mabel notes her stress levels are dependent on the teams they play. “I would say my stress level for a game is a 5. It depends on how stressful the school day was and how good the team we are playing is. Mostly it’s just exciting nerves.” Common emotions Mabel feels throughout the week are happy in contrast with pressure. “As of now my emotion for the week is usually happy to be with my friends and playing a fun sport, but stress is also always a component-mostly because of school work.”. During game days, the nights end far earlier than most sports. “For away games, usually 8:30 to 9 pm depends on how far away and home games are 7:30 or 8:30.” The homework workload on Mabel differs each day. “Homework depends on the day. Probably would average out to an hour and a half or two hours. Right now the homework is not too bad, maybe half of my classes give something small, but I’m sure it will be a lot pretty soon.” Key points of advice Mabel would give are to manage your time well and to have fun while you can. “The advice I would give is to just manage your time well. If you know you are going to be at a game or practice, try to get your work done in any free time throughout the day. Also just look forward to the fun things and be sure to do the things you enjoy”. 

Through these interviews, the pressure of being an athlete and student through different courses offered at John Adams can be high. While going into this school year remember the advice of these three athletes and how it is possible to thrive under pressure.