At 5 am, the city of Madison is fast asleep, enveloped in a comforting frost-glazed darkness—everyone, except for the select few who are chasing the combined pursuit of Athletics and Academics. My story is about navigating the life of a student-athlete as a men’s soccer player, but it runs far deeper. It spans from volleyball to basketball, stretching beyond the label of collegiate athletics, and is found in everyone from avid gym lifters to early morning Pilates warriors.
From my now one-year experience living this demanding lifestyle, I would like to pass on some key tips that, as an Incoming freshman, I wish I had known, and I am certain would have made a world of difference.
- Using a physical planner (Online works as well)
Trust me, a planner is essential to your success in balancing an active lifestyle and academics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. If you are someone like me and struggle at times to efficiently allocate your time, a physical planner will help you more deeply embed tasks in your mind, keep you on track at all times, and give you great satisfaction when you can cross each item off. The one I personally have is linked here.
2. Designated Study Space
I feel having a ‘safe heaven’ to study is extreamly underated when it comes to being able to balance multiple things. When you have less time because of other comitmens its imperative that when you are studying your are completely concerntated withought distractions.
