Senior year in high school is very stressful, but for some, it is not at all. The pressure of finding a school is off. Beginning as early as sophomore year, some seniors already committed to a college for a sport can relieve a lot of stress. This requires a lot of hard work and time, it is not an easy thing to achieve. Some student-athletes put all of their extra time into their specific sport just to earn a scholarship and commitment to a college. But being a student-athlete could cause problems when it comes to school work in college.

Senior Patrick English committed his sophomore year to Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin for lacrosse.

Ali: Do you think it is less stressful being committed so early?

Patrick: “It was really nice knowing ahead of time where I was going to school. I really didn’t have to look around that much, I only had to apply to one school and wait for one result. Overall that was really nice because there was a lot less stress.”

Q: Why did you choose Marquette over the rest of the choices?

A: “I really like the coaches, they have a great program and awesome facilities that are useful to lacrosse. But I also I love the city of Milwaukee.

Q: What will you be majoring in?

A: “I will be going to their business school, probably their commercial business or supply chain management.”

Q: Do you think it will be difficult to balance sports and school work?

A: “It is definitely going to be harder, but there is a lot of resources that are able to help us. I will just have to put in a lot of extra time but I should be able to manage it

Q: Why did you commit so early and are you happy you did?

A: “Usually in lacrosse, people commit their sophomore year to division one schools. Marquette was the right fit for me so it happened to work out fine.”

Senior Natalie Lunt is attending Indiana University in Bloomington Indiana for soccer and committed the winter of her Sophomore year.

Ali: Is it nice being committed so early?

Natalie: “So far this year it has been super relieving watching everyone else apply to several different colleges. It definitely takes a lot of worry out of it because I only had to apply to one place and only had to wait for one to come back.”

Q: Do you think it will be difficult to manage school work and soccer in college?

A: “I think it will be challenging at first because I will just be getting used to the college curriculum but before the season starts I am planning on taking summer classes to lighten the workload throughout the season. Since I have been a student-athlete through my high school years I am thinking I’ll hopefully get the hang of it quick.”

Q: What work have you gone through to get to this point in your soccer career?

A: “I practice 4 times a week and have games every weekend. I have been playing since I was 6. It has taken a lot of effort and practice to get where I am today and am still working hard to get better to be able to compete at the next level.”

Senior Kyle Basch committed this year in early October to the University of Indianapolis for lacrosse.

Ali: Why did you choose Indianapolis?

Kyle: “I visited there a couple times and I loved it because it is right by downtown Indianapolis. Overall, I just liked the campus a lot and the academic side of it was a great fit for me.”

Q: Do you think it is less stressful that you finally got to choose where you are going to school?

A: “It definitely takes a little bit of stress off but you definitely don’t want to be lazy and miss your opportunity to play in college and not have well enough grades to go there.”

Q: Do you think you are trying as hard as any other student?
A: “Yes I would say so, I’ve been trying just as hard to keep my grades up and not slack because I wouldn’t have wanted to miss this opportunity that I have.”

Q: Do you think it is going to be difficult to balance lacrosse and school work?

A: “It will be hard, I know that we are provided with tutors and we have academic help that the coaches set up for each of us individually. It should all work out alright. I would like to major in sports marketing which I am really interested in, so once I hit the point of studying more of that it should become easier.