Keeping Balance

By Ross Andrews

Sports Intern

Growing up as a kid, I always had the dream to make it to the NBA. My passion in life was to be successful and to be a winner in every aspect of my life. The first sport that I played was t-ball. T- ball, is the first level of baseball. I quickly realized that this wasn’t the sport for me because the game was too slow. I was built for fast sports and something with more action. My parents forced me to play but I willingly chose to play basketball. I ‘ve loved basketball ever since.

Growing to love a sport in my opinion is good because it helps you as a person. Sports teach you a lot of things. You’re able to work on communication skills, teamwork, time management and more. The passion the game gave me helped me in all aspects of life. Back in high school the balance of sports and life was a little different because, “if you don’t have the grades, then you can’t play”. I studied hard and played hard on the court. I was able to stay on the honor roll list and help my team to win the basketball state championship.

After getting recruited in high school I was given the opportunity to continue my basketball journey at Huntingdon College. Just like high school, going to college was a different ball game. Not just from the athletic standpoint but the academics were more challenging. “Keeping balance”, was the motivation I used to help me manage being a student athlete. Time management was slightly difficult at first but I quickly took a different approach to make it through my freshman year of college.

My advice to student athletes and non athletes is to make sure that you use your professors office hours. Office hours are good because you get a one on one, face to face action with your professors. This is great for communications and to build a better relationship with your professors. Some classes have up to 100 students in them, so gaining a personal relationship with your professors is important. Handling your business off the court, will help you focus when on the court. Remember to “Keep Balance”.