Handling school work and sports can be difficult. I play two sports, golf and softball, and am currently taking one AP class, and five advanced classes. So playing sports and having a lot of school work stresses me out.

“On my meet days, I would do my homework the day before my meet, so I wouldn’t have to stress about it,” sophomore Nina Daman said.

For softball, I am on both the varsity team and the junior varsity team, so it takes up a lot of my time. On game days, we have to start warming up around 4:15 p.m. and the varsity games don’t start until 6 p.m.

JV games start after the varsity games, so most nights I don’t get home until 10 p.m. and I have to do about one hour of homework every night.

I like to think of how many days of school we have left since it’s not even a month away. But at the same time, it stresses me out.

Before school gets out I have to think about finals, studying for them and making sure I get good grades in my classes. I have to make sure that my grades are my top priority. Then I can focus on my sports.

Focusing on golf isn’t hard for me because the tournaments are in the summer and not during the school year. But it does interfere with the beginning of the school year.

This doesn’t worry me too much, because the golf tournaments are on the weekends and most practices are usually an hour. But even on the weekends, I try to focus on my school work.

If you are an athlete and a student, my advice to you is to focus on your school work. School is more important because the skills you learn can be useful for the rest of your life.

Playing a sport teaches you teamwork and you can make friends, that can become your lifelong friends. Each thing can teach you different lessons in life.

“Some advice I have is to make sure you always pay attention in class, take some extra notes if you need to. And always make sure you get plenty of sleep and try not to stress,” sophomore Emily Spores said.

Being a student-athlete stresses me out a lot, but in the end, I know that it’ll be worth it.