Being a Student Athlete

Hi! My name is Katie and I am a thrower for the CMU varsity Track and Field team. That means I throw shot put, discus, hammer and weight (and do it pretty well if I do say so myself 🙂). Throughout my time on the track team, I have been able to compete in Boston, New York City, Chicago, St. Louis and right here in Pittsburgh. Though I didn’t plan to be a student athlete when I came to college, I am so glad I joined; as it was a good way to stay active, meet friends early and continue with a sport that I am passionate about. 

My day to day on campus is a little different as a student athlete. We have practice everyday year-round — both outdoors and indoors — and during the season there is a track meet every weekend. It’s definitely a big time commitment, but fits pretty well into my class schedule. We also weight lift a few days every week, and this lifting is done in the new weight room at the Highmark Center — I’m very excited that it was completed in time for me to get to use it! For meets we travel by bus (or sometimes plane) to another university and spend a day or two at the competition. I always try to get my work done in the daytime during the week, so I don’t have to do anything after practice or worry about doing work during a meet (then again I’m a senior, so the schedule is a little lighter than normal). 

I know I had some concerns about being a student athlete in college when I first joined the team. First, what if I had to miss classes for practice or meets? Thankfully, we have practice during the class moratorium from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. every day, so I never had to miss a class for practice. The coaches are also flexible with rescheduling or shortening practices if I have academic or professional commitments. For meets, professors are willing to work with me to make sure I can catch up on any work I miss, and if I miss an exam the coaches are able to proctor it at the meet. The second concern I had was about the time commitment - what if I didn’t have time for anything fun on campus between classes and track? Luckily, this did not turn out to be the case. I was able to get involved in a lot of other organizations on campus, like buggy and Engineering Student Council, hold a job almost every semester and still have the time to do fun stuff with my friends, like attending a Pitbull concert and local trivia nights. It certainly takes some time management skills, but being a student athlete won’t take away from your on-campus experience. 

Throughout my four years, I think my favorite memory from track and field would have to be the UAA conference championship meets. These happen at the end of every track season (indoor and outdoor) and are always between the same seven schools. Because of that, I’ve made some great friends from other track programs, and it’s always fun to catch up on those weekends. There’s also so much team spirit at these meets, so the energy is always high and super positive. Finally, we’ll usually have some down time during this event, so I’ve been able to do some fun things like walk around NYC, visit the Bean in Chicago and even just make a simple ice cream run with friends.