I now know what it feels like to be a busy bee working in an enormous hive. My weeks are cluttered with soccer practices and games, theater rehearsals, and the spare time designated for homework. Theater and sports are two extremely different worlds. I am fortunate enough to have one foot in each of them.

Sundays start the week off with a soccer game or two each week. These games can take place out of town in places such as Detroit, Chicago, or Indiana, or they can be as close as forty minutes away. Whenever I return from those games is the time I can squeeze homework in. Mondays are hard days for anyone. School starts off the day and then theater rehearsal follows directly after. Once theater is completed, I change my mind into soccer mode. I tug on my soccer socks, slide into my cleats, and start running for practice. Rehearsal and practice both last a few hours each, so by the time I get home, it’s past dinner time. Once again, homework needs to be completed and then I move along through my week on to Tuesday. Tuesdays are the days spent solely at rehearsal. Wednesdays are crazy again. The activities repeat the same as Monday’s scramble. Thursdays are when I get a sneak peak of the weekend and I my only activity is rehearsal. Fridays are my free days, unless time is too near to a show where I would either have a rehearsal or the show itself.  The only addition to the long train of events would be having a soccer game on a Friday night. Lastly, I end my week with Saturday with having multiple soccer games or a theater show to put on.

Now, mixing sports and theater is just like combining oil and water; they don’t mix. The two activities are immensely different yet slightly similar. The only thread between sports and theater is their will to work as a team to reach success. The cast and crew in theater have to work in harmony to produce the correct sound and light cues to go along with the lines spoken from each actor. In soccer, the team has to work together to put passes together while moving down the field to score some goals.

Here is when the different activities turn into different worlds: theater shows are done for actors and actresses to express themselves artistically by playing the roles of other characters. They are also put on to entertain an audience and give people a reason for a night outing with some friends. For the crew’s point of view, shows are put on to display hard work and intriguing sound/lighting combinations for each individual scene.

Soccer, I feel, is played for a completely different reason. Yes, parents and friends come to watch the games, but I feel it is mostly played for the players themselves. The satisfaction of working so hard with your team and getting the win you wanted is such an exquisite feeling. All the hours spent at practice and the sweat perspired while doing sprints are all worth it in the end. There seems to be a bond like no other when a team loses together, but even more so when a team wins together because sharing a great achievement is a feeling of relief and triumph. The competitiveness of two players racing for the ball and seeing who gets there quicker is breathtaking, sometimes quite literally.

Between soccer and theater, I have gained the benefits from each program. I am so thankful to be involved in both. I feel these two have made me well-rounded as a person. I wouldn’t trade my hectically-crammed schedule for anything in the world.

I fortunately get to have the best of both worlds.