Joseph Miller (Edit)- Back to School 2023: The stress of being a student-athlete

Solution Journalism: The Stress of Being a Student Athlete 

Part 1: The Problem  

In 2020, the NCAA reported that more than 30% of student athletes have reported feeling overwhelmed juggling their sport and academic commitments, along with 50% feeling anxiety and 43% feeling so depressed that it was difficult to function. Student athletes bring a lot of value to the colleges or universities they represent by building an environment that attracts other students to come to their school. Student athletes get many various perks depending on what school they go to or what sport they play such as free gear, access to tutors and advisors, physical trainers, etc. Yet, they are held to a high standard and demanding schedule with juggling both their sport and academics. Essentially 2 full-time jobs.

When understanding the scheduling commitments, let’s use a sailor on a Division 1 team as an example. Sailing is not included as an NCAA sport, yet the schedule limitations are reflective of those for NCAA athletes. NCAA athletes are only allowed to devote a maximum of 4 hours per day, 20 hours per week, with one day off while they are in season and two days off when they are out of season. This standard is emulated in the sport of sailing but oftentimes, since it is not a hard requirement, sailors are often worked longer hours. This 20 hours per week time commitment to the sport does not include the travel time and competition time span. Collegiate sailing has both a fall and a spring season. In the fall practices on the water and lifts in the gym begin 2-3 weeks into the school year, then travel to competitions (regattas) span from generally the end of September to the end of November.  Regattas are on the weekends Saturday through Sunday. On Saturday the regatta start time is at 9am with an end to racing of around 5pm. On Sunday the start time is also 9am with a cut off of 3pm, resulting in the average competition time being 13 hours. There is immense travel involved. Typically sailors leave school on Fridays, most likely missing their Friday classes, and return at least after 8pm – 1am Sunday night.  The weekend time commitment ends up being 13 hrs of competition plus 8 hours of travel on average with this totaling to be around 21 hours. The week starts all over again with practices and lifts starting on Monday with one day off during the week. This translates into a 41 hour time commitment to sailing activities, without considering academics at all.

Student athletes are held to the same academic standard as all other students at their college or university. They are expected to complete all class requirements to graduate as well as for their major. There is a minimum of 12 credit hours to be taken by students per semester, yet in order to graduate in 4 years, an encouraged 15 credit hours which equates into around 5 classes per semester. There are many factors with the academic side of things that are less than accommodating or convenient for student athletes. Scheduling classes around practice times naturally brings conflict, between required classes being offered at specific times only or only during fall/spring semesters, athletes are extremely limited to their choice of classes with a rigid practice and travel schedule. This frequently results in athletes not being able to major in certain fields depending on their nature. These include majors with time consuming requirements for completion such as Architecture majors, who are tasked with large projects with long hours in studio, or Chemistry, Biology, and Engineering majors that require multi-hour long labs. Some people often criticize athletes for ‘taking the easy route’ in school, when in many instances they literally cannot undergo certain majors. Another common hurdle for student athletes is group projects. The difference in athletes schedules compared to non-athlete students is polarizing. It is nearly impossible to find corresponding times to meet with a group with the little to no flexibility already existing in their schedules. Professors also leave no choice to their students on if they can work on their own, and they are forced to coordinate with their assigned group members. Professors can often add more stress by requiring mandatory participation points and attendance requirements in their classes. For half of the semester, if a sailor is on the travel team, they will not be able to attend their Friday class in person, there is no getting around that. If professors require only a certain number of absences before the student’s grade is deducted, this causes issues and a need for accommodations for the student athlete. Lastly, with finals typically coinciding with end of season competitions and championships. It is not uncommon to miss a final test or exam because of travel. Here, when rescheduling one of these tests professors are not always in the athletes corner. They can make you use your drop exam or make you use the last test as your final grade.

Juggling these two lives efficiently can be completely unmanageable for student athletes. There is simply no way for them to give 100% effort in academics and athletics with the flawed and demanding schedules and requirements from both sides. Every student athlete will face struggles with time management in some way during their college career with their commitments. Additionally, it is common for many athletes to end their career after the collegiate level, with no intent to become a professional or begin an Olympic campaign. With that, having strong academics holds the same value to many athletes as it would any other student seeking job opportunities post graduation. Yet, the colleges and universities are not helping the situation and making the lives of student athletes more difficult, when they should be helping them thrive in this unique environment. Successful athletic programs bring national recognition and attention to a college and university, which can increase visibility and reputation. This leads to attracting more students to the school, ultimately leading to more revenue for the institution. According to an NCAA report, the total revenue generated by all NCAA athletic programs in the 2021-2022 academic year was 1.16 billion dollars. It is in the school’s best interest to help student athletes succeed to the best of their ability.

Part 2: The Solution

American entrepreneur, author, educational activist and podcaster, Tim Ferriss earned his fortune from his first bestselling novel, The 4 Hour Work Week. In his book, Ferriss preaches, “There is no correlation between time and effectiveness in the knowledge economy. If you can free yourself from the traditional nine-to-five schedule, you’re already halfway to success.”

Ferriss was juggling different careers post-graduation, working at both data companies and technology companies, briefly transitioned into entrepreneurship with his first startup, BrainQUICKEN,  and then he decided to disconnect from the corporate world and travel throughout Europe, Asia, and South America. When reflecting upon his travels Ferriss says, “I was on a continuous journey of learning and discovery, and I realized that the lessons and ideas I was learning could be valuable to others who were looking to escape the 9-to-5 grind and live life on their own terms. That was the inspiration for ‘The 4-Hour Work Week.'”

His main point in the book is that many people spend too much time working inefficiently and being busy rather than productive. The core premise is that it’s possible to live a more fulfilling and enjoyable life while working significantly less than the standard 40-hour work week. He argues that traditional approaches to work and time management are outdated and that many people are stuck in the “hamster wheel” of working long hours. From there, the book explains practical tips and strategies for maximizing efficiency and outsourcing or automating various aspects of one’s life and work in order to free up time and achieve financial independence.

Student-athletes have so many responsibilities throughout college.

First, Ferriss focuses on SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound). The specifics are broken down into integrating these into a work schedule, travel time, and living arrangements. He says to his readers, “The question you should be asking isn’t, ‘What do I want?’ or ‘What are my goals?’ and ‘What would excite me?'” He invites people to dream of their ideal life and to imagine the endless possibilities, “What would I do if I had unlimited time and resources? What is holding me back from achieving my goals?” It is alluring and personal as each person’s “ideal lifestyle” will be unique. Ferriss also has, “Elimination of Time Wasters”, as one of the first steps towards being successful in improving one’s productivity in the workplace. He says to eliminate all unnecessary tasks and activities that do not contribute to your desired outcomes. This can be done by focusing on the 20% of activities that produce 80% of your desired results and eliminate the rest. After this is done, the next step is Automation. Readers are encouraged to automate as many tasks as possible using technology and outsourcing. Ferriss recommends using virtual assistants, automated systems, and software tools to streamline work processes and free up more time for leisure activities and personal development. He says, “For most tasks, a virtual assistant is more than capable of producing the same quality of work as someone in-house, and often at a fraction of the cost.” The third step is outsourcing. Ferriss says to outsource as many tasks as possible to other people or companies. Tasks that are not your core competencies, that are time-consuming, or that can be done more efficiently by others, are those that should be outsourced. This could involve hiring freelancers, contractors, or virtual assistants to handle tasks such as email management, social media, or customer service. This can mean utilizing customer relationship management software for businesses, payroll processing, and inventory management systems. Ferriss says, “By delegating these tasks, you free up your time and energy to focus on the areas where you excel.”

Millions of Americans love The 4 Hour Work Week and the ideas behind it. It sold over 2.1 million copies and spent four years on the New York Times BestSeller List. Many people can connect to different aspects of Ferriss’s tips and pieces of advice to live a happy and sustainable lifestyle. The 4 Hour Work Week promises a radical shift in the way people work and live. It suggests a shortcut promising to eliminate factors that create stress and overall dissatisfaction. In a society where every individual follows the same path, this is a refreshing new outlook. Ferriss says, “Doing less is not being lazy. Don’t give in to a culture that values personal sacrifice over personal productivity.”

Part 3: Connection to Problem

Corporate America along with collegiate student athletes can relate to each other in being overwhelmed and overworked due to their commitments. Tim Ferriss’s ideas on increasing efficiency and productivity to have a better quality of life can be applied to the lives of student athletes in many ways.

Time is such a crucial and limited factor in a student athlete’s life. When time is limited, Tim Ferriss’s ‘work smarter not harder’ philosophy becomes a helpful tool in their everyday lives. His advice on eliminating busy work holds the most value to student athletes. Ferriss advises to implement the 80/20 rule where he says, “Identify the 20% of activities that are producing 80% of the results: by focusing on the key 20% of activities that produce the most results, you can eliminate or delegate the other 80% of activities that are not contributing as much to your goals.” For athletes, small daily homework assignments that take around 15-20 minutes each. This may seem like an insignificant period yet, when taking five classes during a semester, what seems to be a lot of small tasks can add up to take at least an hour or more. Ferriss then suggests that after these time consuming activities are identified, we then need to“eliminate” or “delegate” them by ways such as a virtual assistant, freelancing, hiring another employee, etc. For student athletes, the virtual assistant would be the most practical and efficient option. There are so many different forms of AI that can help eliminate busy work significantly, and also stay within the lines of academic integrity. ChatGPT is one of the newest AI chatbot technologies, and the tasks it can perform are unlike any other existing AI model. It allows you to engage in human-like conversations when on the platform. The language model answers questions by pulling from various sources and compiling them into a concise and understandable response. It can also assist with tasks, such as composing emails, essays, and code based on your writing style history. For students, ChatGPT can eliminate copious amounts of time when it comes to research. After asking the AI model a series of questions, its compiled answers are legitimate and accessible in one place within seconds. ChatGPT can also be used to summarize articles, correct grammar mistakes, provide outlines and guides to certain types of assignments, and write emails. The possibilities are endless since the idea behind this AI model is that it can do anything you ask it to.

Another similar method Ferriss discusses is outsourcing. He says that outsourcing allows for time to free up and therefore the ability to focus on higher value activities, such as developing new products or services, marketing, and sales for a business. By outsourcing lower value tasks, the business’s productivity will increase and will grow more effectively. He also emphasizes that outsourcing is not limited, he says, “Outsourcing is not just for entrepreneurs and business owners, it’s a skill for everyone, especially those who value their time and want to create more freedom in their lives.” For student athletes this can come in the form of websites and apps that are created as helpful study tools. For math, PhotoMath and Slader are mobile apps that use the smartphone’s camera to scan and solve math equations in real-time. These apps are especially useful for students who are struggling with a particular concept or who need additional practice. Both can also be used as a learning tool to help students understand how to solve math problems step-by-step. The app provides detailed explanations and shows the work involved in solving the problem, which can help students learn and retain the information more effectively. Another helpful and well-known study source is Chegg. Chegg is an American education technology company that provides online textbook rentals, homework help, online tutoring, and other student services. Although a subscription payment is required Chegg, similar to these other websites, provides step by step information on homework and other assignments across all subjects. Along with simple homework help, Chegg provides tutoring services as well as tools and resources to help students find internships and jobs that are relevant to their career interests.

It is important to note that all these websites can be used as an avenue for academic misconduct. They are designed to be used as a learning tool, yet have in some ways earned a bad reputation because students have been known to just copy and paste the answers provided to them. However, these technologies are not going away and it is more beneficial for the students to learn from it and for teachers and professors to adapt around this. A student interviewed for The New York Times says, “I think that programs like ChatGPT are going to force teachers to change the way they assign homework. Doing more homework in class and less at home activities might help deter using AI generated work … doing more assignments that require students to talk and collaborate with other students will help counteract this.”
There are ways student athletes can lessen the burdens and countless tasks they endure. Sometimes this means thinking outside the box and getting creative in order to optimize time.