“I’m Just keeping my head above water,” said Madison Maichin, a fourth-year nursing student and libero on the women’s volleyball team. Maichin is describing the delicate balance between her rigorous nursing program and the demands of being a competitive athlete. All WolfPack student-athletes face the challenges of balancing their academic studies and training; but for some with more demanding degrees, the balancing act requires more strategic planning and help.
For Maichin, a typical day starts at five am with a gym workout, followed by three back-to-back classes. She also has clinical days where she spends seven hours at the hospital, all before heading straight to practice. She admits her days are long but said her coach has been flexible and even adjusted practice times to help her this season. On Mondays, she fits in a co-ed volleyball game at night on top of her class and previous practice that day. This is all to make up for missed Thursday practices.
“It’s not the funniest of days,” Maichin said.
Unlike some degrees with more flexible course schedules, nursing is a structured program with labs and long clinical hours, adding more pressure to an already demanding athletic schedule.
Fortunately, Maichin notes that her professors offer her support and understand her busy athletic schedule, even allowing her to participate in lessons via Zoom when the need arises. Yet even with these accommodations, the pressure to keep in good academic standing remains high for all athletes, as one key to eligibility depends on maintaining a minimum GPA.
To help student-athletes academically, TRU offers a program called PACE—a study hall for student-athletes managed by academic advisors and supported by PACE leaders who are senior athletes. TRU requires that all first-years or students with a GPA below 2.5 attend two hours of PACE each week.
Matix Harrison is a first-year student on the men’s basketball team. He said he uses PACE as an opportunity to get all his assignments and projects done for the week. “I think PACE is pretty good at keeping me on track,” Harrison said. This time allows busy athletes, especially first-years, to adjust to the new lifestyle of university and ensure they have time to study.
Beyond formal support, both Maichin and Harrison emphasize the importance of their peers as being the ones to help them out as well. Maichin credits her nursing classmates, who will help her catch up if she has to miss classes due to volleyball. She says having a really good study group like theirs is beneficial, as they can give her the rundown of lessons when absent.
Besides the mental exhaustion from classes and practice, student-athletes also have to deal with significant physical demands. Recovery is essential. Harrison credits ice baths and spending time in the hot tub and sauna are just a few of the things he and his teammates do to ease the physical toll of high-level sports. For Maichin and her busy schedule, she insists on getting at least seven hours of sleep each night for her body and mind to recover. She describes her gym sessions as “a mental cleanse and release” and chooses to view the mandatory lift time as a rare opportunity to not focus on school or volleyball.
For student-athletes like Maichin and Harrison, juggling demanding academics and high-level athletic commitments is no easy task, but it is a labour of love. While Maichin admits she has times when she questions why she does it all, moments like gratitude from her patients or hard-fought wins with the team are why she perseveres. Harrison, too, shared that it’s a hard balance, but his passion for basketball drives him. Their dedication shows a powerful lesson: determination, time management and passion will serve many student-athletes long after their university careers.
As Maichin said, “It’s easy to get discouraged, but other people have done it, so it’s not impossible.”