Student Guide to Master Sports and Student Life

By: Mazen Eid
@therealmazen1

In the best of days, it’s a struggle for many students to find the motivation to wake up, eager to add more hours, even minutes, to their sleeping schedule. Add a sore body to the equation, and you get the trials and tribulations of student athletes.

Prioritizing practice is crucial to athletic success, but it’s not always easy juggling between training and studies. Successful student athletes usually have their own way of managing their time. A number of athletes from AUC have made it to world championships.

The two main factors of being a student athlete are time management and knowing your priorities, according to professional squash player Nouran Gohar, an AUC Construction Engineering graduate, who has represented Egypt in the World Games.

“Prioritize productive tasks and don’t waste your time. By doing this, a chunk of your life would seem like it’s going to waste. But [believe me] it’s worth it,” Gohar said.

Mariam Daoud, a Business freshman and a professional volleyball player, shared her morning routine, showing how she finds her motivation to start the day.

Dauod scheduled and registered all of her courses in the afternoon, as she prefers training early in the morning.

“Coffee is my life hack. I believe the first hour of the day should be productive, because it decides how the rest of the day will look,” she added.

After having her coffee, Daoud is ready to go to practice. She then proceeds to university and starts her academic day as usual.

But for Mohamed Shenawy, rowing athlete, and a Computer Engineering junior, it’s about being goal oriented.

“The most important thing is to always remember your goals, inside and outside AUC. This is how I get the energy to get off my bed: discipline,” he said.

Almost all of the student athletes that we interviewed agree on the importance of discipline. It’s how they have the ability to flick the switch between sports and university.

Having assignments to do across the week shortens the amount of free time that athletes have. That’s why they tend to avoid procrastination and plan ahead before the beginning of the week.

“Procrastination is a deadly loophole that will only get worse,” said Adham Saad, a sophomore majoring in Mechanical Engineering who trains with the water polo team at Al-Gezira Club.

He added that completing tasks on time allows him to get more sleep and to use the free time to socialize. The extra time keeps Saad’s mental wellbeing into what he described as “level-headed.”

Other student athletes have no problem admitting that they sometimes find it difficult to stay on their academic track and finish tasks beforehand. 

“I’m a huge procrastinator when it comes to school work. But I work well under pressure so I usually get my work done on time,” said Business junior Hassan Khalafallah, a professional mixed martial artist.

Khalafallah’s schedule could sometimes be stacked with tasks. In that case, he would have to choose between university and training, sacrificing one of both.

“One thing that almost all athletes can’t discard is a healthy sleeping schedule,” Khalafallah added.

For starting student athletes, it might be hard to stay consistent in completing tasks at first. AUC Professor of Psychology Jacquelyn H. Berry believes that the real key to being consistent is to set goals and objectives that are attainable.

She stated that goals that are very far away will take a long time to complete and are not very motivating in the short term, in contrast to goals that are very easy, which may not represent enough rewarding progress. 

“Choose a goal that is a slight stretch out and in a short period of time, such as 6 or 8 weeks. You will be amazed at the rewarding feeling you get for accomplishing this goal,“ Berry said to The Caravan.

Meanwhile, for students who are interested in sports but don’t know how to start, the Office of Athletics is planning to have experts provide a series of workshops about different topics related to health, fitness, and nutrition.

“We are working on updating the requirements of sponsoring outstanding athletes with scholarships or financial aid, to provide the best service for AUC athletes,” the Office of Athletics said in response to questions from The Caravan.

The Office would also like to know what topics students are interested in learning more about. Consequently, they sent out an email survey, to gauge students’ demand and check the availability to provide new sports opportunities.