My University Experience as a Student Athlete
My university experience started in the summer of 2017. Near the end of August, I moved to Waterloo, Ontario to begin training camp. After playing a few years of summer rugby with a lot of the recruits, I was very excited to begin playing with them year round and meeting the rest of the boys that have since become my family. Coming straight out of high school rugby into a varsity mens program was a little intimidating, I went from a roster of about thirty players to over sixty. For the first week or so of training camp, recruits stay at vet’s houses to billet until residence is open. Although I was sleeping on a chair for two weeks of hard training sessions, this experience allowed me to really get to know the older guys and become close with them. By the time school started after labour day, I had been practicing twice a day with the team, and living with a group of five vets and two other rookies. This transition allowed me to begin school with a family of sixty guys. This team is the support system that has helped me progress into the fourth year of my Bachelor of Business Administration.
Training camp prepared me socially to begin school, however, I was not prepared academically. To add to that, I had terrible time management skills before university. I thought rugby would interfere with my school work because we were practicing five times a week and playing games on the weekend. To my surprise, my time management skills were put to the test and I think this hectic schedule forced me to plan my days better. These newly developed skills allowed me to tackle nine midterms and five exams that semester. Going from a straight A student all of high school, it was difficult receiving C’s and B’s on so many major assignments, but somehow I finished the year with a business average above 70%, meaning I could progress into second year.
My second year was a turning point in my university experience. After struggling to maintain the average I needed to continue my BBA all of first year, I knew I had to approach my second year differently. I entered the year understanding how my schedule with rugby and classes had to work, and how much time I needed to dedicate to homework and studying. I also figured out how to study (shoutout to Alex Circelli). Thankfully my second year my business average was high enough above the needed 70% that I didn’t have to worry about it as much.
Second year was also a turning point for the Laurier Men’s Rugby Program. Following a fourth place finish in 2017, we were given the chance to play for bronze again in the 2018 season. November 10, 2018, the boys were ready for a well deserved battle, against our Chainsaw rivals, the University of Waterloo. Everyone was double layered on top and bottom for our warmups, but when time came for kickoff, we were all on the field with our hands in our shorts to try and grasp some warmth. Playing rugby in below freezing temperatures isn’t always the best feeling, especially when you can’t see the uprights because of the snow coming down. It was a well fought game, but we weren’t giving up an opportunity to win a bronze medal two years in a row. The ref blew the final whistle and the 17-6 Laurier lead was solidified, the snow cleared and the medals were distributed to the team.
Third year was less exciting than first and second year, I got the hang of school, which meant I was actually doing school work all day every day when I wasn’t in the gym or at practice. The 2019 season didn’t go as planned, a few crucial games that were easily winnable were lost. We didn’t even make it into the playoffs, however, we went undefeated after our regular season allowing us to secure a fifth place finish in the OUA. Most of second semester was ruined due to COVID, which leads us to this semester, first semester of fourth year.
Although classes are all online, this is my favourite semester to date, school wise. I now have the opportunity to concentrate in marketing, which allows me to take business courses that I thoroughly enjoy. Although I am upset that our rugby season was cancelled, it has given me a lot of time to focus on photography. I have been able to use the information I am learning in my marketing courses to promote myself and begin to grow my brand. I am excited to see how the rest of this year pans out, and what is to come once I graduate in April.