HOST INTRO: For CUNY student athletes, this is only their second season of competition since everything was shut down by the pandemic, and many find themselves overwhelmed trying to find their footing again. Student athletes everywhere tend to be pretty stressed balancing their course loads with their demanding athletic schedules. According to a recent study by Northeastern University “95% of male and 85% of female athletes report higher stress compared to 52% of non-athlete students.” Elissa Leung spoke with several student-athletes at Baruch College and found that this stress is compounded even further for students at commuter schools.
AMBI: Nat sounds of athletes chatting in level B2.
TRACK: Baruch’s athletic facility, known as the ARC Arena, is located in the basement levels of the Newman Vertical Campus building. The walls are abundantly covered with the school color, blue, and the trophies of the previous champions. Student-athletes gather here in between classes and in their off time to socialize with others, work on homework, and wait anxiously for practice.
AMBI: Nat sounds of men’s basketball practice.
TRACK: Jackenson Edme, a Baruch sophomore and a member of the men’s basketball team, frequently spends time down here to study for his classes. Between his classes and commitment to the basketball team, he says it’s a lot.
ACT: JACKENSON: Yeah sometimes I feel overwhelmed and depressed.
TRACK: He tries to stay positive by reminding himself that he’s lucky.
ACT: JACKENSON: Many people don’t have that opportunity but I do and I try to take it serious and be a student-athlete by trying to take care of my education and basketball and try to balance them I hope.
TRACK: As a second year student-athlete, he has developed new habits and learned from his freshman year.
ACT: JACKENSON: The covid year got everyone lazy I think. But after that year I tried to catch up with my work, I tried to do the same thing I did in high school which was not helping so I had to improve. So this semester I try to study in the morning and at night which is pretty good.
AMBI: Nat sounds of women’s volleyball practice.
TRACK: Isabella Doring, a sophomore on Baruch’s women’s volleyball team, has also been making adjustments. She’s had to, because she commutes from upstate New York—an exceptionally long commute even for a mostly commuter school like Baruch.
ACT: ISABELLA: A little over 2 hours each way and people thought I was absolutely insane for doing that last year and they were definitely right it is very crazy.
TRACK: She has practice or games 6 days a week, so she’s had to find ways to make those commutes productive.
ACT: ISABELLA: I’ve definitely learned how to manage my time around the bus so some days depending on what’s going on in school like I’ll use the bus time as like Grind Time, study, get those assignments done, but other days I’ll really use that time to just relax and have me time and listen to music and take care of my mental health a little more so I feel like it forces me to kind of get that time in for myself.
TRACK: Like Doring, other Baruch student-athletes find extra time in their commutes to either study or reset mentally. Regina Kelley, a senior on the women’s tennis team, travels from Westchester everyday for school and finds her commute therapeutic.
ACT: REGINA: I would take those commute times to walk to school from Grand Central because that gave me like nice outdoor air even though it’s the city so it’s not that great but it’s better than nothing and it helps me think and clear my head and it reduces my stress.
TRACK: Kelley feels that Baruch being a commuter school has a large impact on student-athletes like her.
ACT: REGINA: I definitely think it’s affected sort of my grades in a negative way. I think that being at school and having everything on campus would greatly reduce the stress of the student athletes. I know a lot of student athletes who commute and they get home at 11 o’clock at night from practice and they can’t study, they have to sleep.
TRACK: But student-athletes like Doring say they’ve grown a lot through these challenges.
ACT: ISABELLA: I would say you’re so much more resilient and strong and capable then you really think you are because all this stuff I didn’t really have a choice you’re just kind of thrown into it and you just have to make the most of it.
TRACK: The women’s volleyball and men’s soccer teams will compete in the CUNYAC playoffs this week to finish off Baruch’s run at the fall CUNYAC championship berths. For Baruch College, I’m Elissa Leung.