Focusing on academics, performing to the highest of your ability, and maintaining relationships and activities is a challenge to any student, but perhaps especially to the student athlete. One of the biggest keys to success in all these different aspects is mastering the concept of time management.

As the winter sports season begins,  sophomore Camy Aguinaldo, a guard on the women’s basketball team, shares her perspective and the way she approaches managing her time while in season, which includes daily practices and traveling for games. Over Thanksgiving break the team had pre-season games. In between these the team had normal practices as well, which include watching film, working on ball handling or shooting, and improving offense and defense.

“For me, I try and use every free moment I am not playing basketball to do homework and study. Whether it is ten minutes of free time or a few hours, I try to do a little of something and be productive. Usually, I head to the library or the coffee shop because I am most productive and least distracted”. Aguinaldo has class each day from 8 a.m to noon, everyday she says she has to make the choice to either study for two straight hours and take a quick nap or study for three straight hours until practice.

“It honestly depends on my mood and amount of work I need to get done,” she said.

Aguinaldo is entering her second season on the basketball team, but she’s been a student athlete for much longer.

“Something I have learned over many years is that you need to do it well, meaning you need to find what works best for you. Whether if it is taking a break between assignments or working on one subject a time, find your strengths and weaknesses,” Aguinaldo said.

Alexander Pells, a senior who just completed his last season on the men’s soccer team said “one of the most important lessons I have learned is that there is no replacement for hard work, both on and off the field is so important because it a way to earn other’s respect.” Pells made the decision to transfer to Whitworth after his second season at a different university. One piece of advice Pells would give his freshman self is to invest in relationships.“School and athletics are important and can bring you a lot of joy, but many student athletes limit themselves to only those two things. Some of the friendships I made back at my old University, I still keep up today. In college you have the opportunity to meet so many different people and create so many great friendships and I don’t think enough people realize this until after they have graduated”, Pells said.

When soccer was in season it used up anywhere from 20-40 hours per week. In order to help manage his time better Pells uses a planner. “I can’t stress enough the importance of keeping track of all your assignments. This way you are never caught by surprise when something is due and have to scramble to complete the assignment,” he says. During the busiest times of the year Pells deletes his social media apps, “this way I am not even tempted to use them when I open my phone. This frees up a lot of time and helps keep me focused.”