The Life of a Student-Athlete

The life of a student-athlete on campus is exciting. You experience new things every day in both your academic and athletic experiences, but there are also a lot of challenges.

You have the opportunity to develop as both a student and an athlete. For freshmen, it is often their first time away from home and they have more responsibility.

For many, it’s a dream to compete in their favorite sport and earn a degree at the same time, while working hard not to neglect either. School in the morning, training during the day, and homework before or after training. Or both before and after.

“I like to have a regular routine so that I can prepare for school as well as training,” said Jonathon Heider, a senior Accounting and Finance double-major from Johnstown and a defender on the soccer team.

“Both are very important to me.”

One of the greatest challenges for student-athletes is maintaining this balance between their academic and athletic responsibilities.

“My favorite thing about being a student-athlete is having the community of the school and my team around me,” said Joel Aschenbroich, a sophomore soccer player and Global Business Management major from Germany.

“It makes it a lot easier to feel at home.”

For international student-athletes such as Aschenbroich, the challenges are even greater because of the need to acclimate to a new country and a new culture.

However, there are also many new and exciting opportunities for student-athletes living in the United States for the first time. They are provided the opportunity to travel around America with their team and see and experience things that they only knew from TV.

“It is the first time for me in the United States, and I really like the mix of studying and playing soccer,” said Patrick Heron, a sophomore Business Management major from Scotland.

“It was not an easy step for me to come to a new country, but I would recommend it to everyone.”