Being A McNair Scholar While Also Balancing Athletics

March 31, 2022

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Fall Semester 2021

When I was first emailed about the opportunity to be a part of the McNair program I immediately deleted the email. I did this because being on the UWEC Women's Gymnastics team, I knew I was already committing approximately 22 hours of practice to the sport alone excluding required volunteering and team functions. I was scared to be a part of this program and only be half-committed. After communicating with the directors and other mentors, I decided to give it a shot considering the amount of education they give pertaining to graduate school. Not only are you creating a research project, but they are also preparing you for graduate school with various assignments and projects. In the Fall semester, I found it quite hard to balance my 15 credit course load and athletics. I was often stressed with the idea of completing assignments I often wasn't sure how to do. Because gymnastics is an all-year sport, for the duration of the Fall semester I was balancing academics, pre-season practices, and working a part-time job. Communication was the key solution to my stressful schedule and I soon configured a system. Whether it was with my professor, mentor, or coach, I always had someone I could go to for advice on how to handle the task given to me. Listed are 10 strategies that helped me balance being involved with gymnastics while also being a McNair scholar:

1. Creating a weekly and monthly schedule of assignments due in my planner.

2. Look at the previous cohort's work or presentations to gain an insight into what is expected.

3. Work on assignments a week early to submit two days before the deadline.

4. Communicate with the McNair director via drop-in hours or email to gain answers to my questions quickly.

5. Have bi-weekly academic meetings with my coach to keep me accountable and help manage my schedule.

6. Stay in constant communication with my mentor by having bi-weekly meetings.

7. Ask guest speakers for more information that was not given in their original presentation.

8. Find connections in my cohort to relate to and de-stress with.

9. Don't be afraid to ask questions!

10. Stay positive and take it week by week...don't look at the overall expectation.

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Spring Semester 2022

With a new semester, one would think it might be less busy but for gymnastics, it actually gets busier. Gymnastics competitions begin and they are every Friday for 8 weeks straight in the middle of the semester. Because of this, the director was willing to work with my schedule and accommodate me to come in and have "class time" at another given time than what my cohort was meeting at. Without this accommodation, I wouldn't have been able to even be a part of the McNair program still. I meet via Zoom with the same professor in a one-on-one environment, where I am still expected to complete my assignments with the rest of the cohort. While we often have guest speakers or workshops, I'm still able to complete activities and participate in pre-recorded videos. I am thankful to have a program that accommodates my schedule which is something that is important for student-athletes. The McNair program is willing to work with a students' schedules showing the flexibility of potentially working with other athletes as well. Managing the busy schedule of a student-athlete is difficult, but with McNair, I haven't had to worry about missing out or even getting behind everyone else. I feel that I have the resources and management available to me to easily be involved as a McNair scholar and athlete.