Evan Thue-
The life of a University of Wisconsin–Stout athlete might seem hectic at times. It seems like life never stops moving when you’re rushing from practice to class to a game later that night. For senior and UW–Stout basketball player Brandyn Christman, that’s exactly what it’s like.
“Right now I’m lucky enough being a senior that I only have 9 credits. But prior to this [season], it was never that simple,” said Christman. He would go on to mention how he scheduled most of his classes earlier in the day, so that he would be able to work on and prioritize what was important by getting a jump start on the day.
Getting started right out of high school by getting into college and a college sport is never an easy task, Brandyn confirmed.
“It was difficult my freshman year because I was new to the college style, but I adjusted very [quickly],” he said.
Even after getting a couple years of school under his belt, Brandyn says that the last couple semesters have been a bit more difficult.
“The last couple semesters [I had] 18 credits, but I was still able to pull through and attain a 3.8 GPA,” said Brandyn. This high GPA is remarkable because in order to continue playing sports at UW–Stout, all student athletes must maintain a 2.5 GPA (or a C average), which is not always the easiest thing to do when so much time is also dedicated to a sport.
Stout quarterback Jay Alston also finds that it can be challenging balancing a sport and academics. “I have found it tough to balance them both sometimes,” he said. “There is times when I would get piled with homework, and that makes it tough when we have lifting in the mornings and football practice in the evenings”.
Brandyn’s advice for any UW–Stout athlete who is trying to balance homework with their sport is to stay organized, but more importantly to just be calm and relax and not put too much pressure on yourself.
“Prioritize, schedule around your classes (coaches understand) and just take a few breaths and relax. It will all work out eventually,” Christman said.
Alston also had a few words of wisdom to say, to make sure you not only stay dedicated with your sport but with school as well.
“The school part gets you far in life, so always find time in the day to complete your studies and succeed in the classroom as well,” he said.