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Why an Athletic and Healthy Lifestyle is Crucial for Success in the Classroom
As a true freshman at Ryerson University, I have noticed many friends and acquaintances either drop out of sports or discontinue their healthy lifestyle. Some of these men and women were once very competitive athletes and achieved success in competition. Some were just solid, well rounded people who were once practicing a healthy workout routine just because it made them the best person they could be. As I started to notice students dropping their athletic routine and throwing their workout plans out the window, I started to ask them why. Their answer: “I just want to focus on school and get my grades up.” Based on my own personal life experiences, and extensive research conducted by people in the field, this is, in many cases, the wrong way of going about it. Trust me, I’ve witnessed first hand the “freshman 15” and how quickly it has impacted students.
I will bring you through 3 main points which showcase why this common answer is wrong and why an athletic and healthy lifestyle makes for a better student.
1) Being an athlete or practicing a healthy lifestyle makes you a more efficient student.
It’s true! When you’re practicing a healthy lifestyle, yes you may have less total time to dedicate to school work. However, you are so much more efficient with the time you have when you’re practicing a healthy lifestyle. I’ve noticed this ever since I started high school. When I was in season in for either baseball or rugby, I found myself 10 times more productive with the time I had and I actually got more work done and retained information better! Now, at Ryerson I have continued those sports and have taken up competitive weightlifting. Yes, I have less time for my studies but when it’s time to work, my attention span is so much better than it was when I was less active. I even notice a difference if I don’t have practice on a particular day! I have a harder time concentrating and need that physical activity every day for me to be the best student I can be. Don’t believe me? I just recently graduated from St Michael’s College School this year (2018) and I still remember the wise words from my guidance counsellor in 10th Grade. She found that almost without exception, a student-athlete’s grades fell when they were either in an offseason or not practicing a healthy lifestyle. When they were in season and busy with athletics, their grades went up considerably. Why you may ask? This leads right into my 2nd point.
2) An athlete learns how to manage his or her time far better when he or she is in season or following a healthy regiment.
When student-athletes are active, they learn to prioritize academics and athletics far better than when they have more time on their hands. Athletics forces students to balance school work, with training and social life. This almost forces the issue in a way. Either you learn to manage your time, or you will struggle. Trust that you will learn and adapt to manage your time better. This prepares students for the real world. Student-athletes learn to make certain sacrifices in order to maintain this balance and equilibrium. Maybe you can’t go out and party every night or every week. Maybe you have to prioritize one subject over the other on a particular night. You can’t get to everything, but as a student-athlete, or even just someone with a good healthy lifestyle, you quickly learn to identify what is most important in any particular moment. Why is this important to a student? Well, the better time management skills you obtain as a student-athlete, the better you get at budgeting time for academics. This is almost guaranteed to produce results in the classroom as well as the work world.
3) The way you do one thing, is the way you do everything
I’m a strong believer in this statement. If you treat your body like garbage and abuse your body, chances are you’ll do the exact same thing to your mind and academics. It’s all connected. On the other hand, if you stay dedicated to being the best, strongest athlete you can be, this will translate into the classroom where you will be the best student you can be. It’s about training your mind and body to work together to accept nothing short of greatness, whatever greatness means to you! My 10th and 12th Grade history teacher and cross-country coach (yes, I ran cross country too) at St Mike’s used to drill this into our head. We learned that trying hard is more important than looking cool. In athletics, that means giving it your all at every practice and competition. In academics, that means taking out your binder out and reviewing class notes on the commute home. “Never be afraid to look like a try-hard and never be afraid to look like an academic,” he used to say.
So, as you can see, you don’t have to pick between athletics or academics. In fact, they go together best. Better athletic practice and a healthier style of living breeds academic success, because the effort is present in both. Better time management skills are learned through sport and a healthy lifestyle and teach student athletes the value of prioritization. Finally, the way you comport yourself as an athlete directly affects how you perform in the classroom. This all comes down to balance and establishing good habits which I believe come through sport and a healthy way of living. You control what you put out there. You own your efforts! I wanted to wrap up with once again some wise words from my former coach and teacher at St Mike’s, because that school taught me everything I know about working hard. It goes, “We look good, we feel good, we are good.”
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