"It was painful, but it's something that all freshmen go through, kind of like a rite of passage," Beattie said. "You just have to focus on practice when you are there and really crack down on work when you are done."
Dartmouth students are used to balancing a heavy course load with myriad extracurricular activities. But with full course loads and upwards of 30 hours of practice per week, student-athletes often have a difficult time balancing their athletic and academic commitments.
"Coming to Dartmouth has been one of the biggest adjustments I've had to make in my entire life, especially in terms of time management," Rob Pritchard '09, a member of the men's ice hockey team, said. "Here, because the academic demands are so high, you can't slip up and you can't get behind."
Student-athletes often face constraints regarding which classes they take and when they take them. Oftentimes, coaches discourage their players from taking classes in the afternoon.
"It is really hard to balance school with sports," Shannon Bowman '09, a member of the women's ice hockey team, said. "We are really limited to what classes we take, especially when we are in season. It is strongly discouraged to take anything after a 12 and if you take a lab then you miss a lot of practice and have to work out by yourself, which is really hard when you are on a team."
While most student-athletes find their professors to be accommodating of their demanding athletic schedules, some athletes have found that their grades have been negatively affected by the amount of class they have had to miss.
"I had one professor that I talked to at the beginning of the term about having to miss class for crew, and she said it wasn't going to be a problem." Kimberly Harris '09, a member of the women's crew team, said. "But at the end of the term my participation grade was really low and she said it was because of all the Friday classes I missed."
Between practices, workouts and team meetings, student-athletes at Dartmouth devote large blocks of their time, regardless of whether a given athlete's sport is in season. However, athletes that are in season must also factor in travel time into their schedules.
"When we have away games we leave on a Thursday and don't come back until Sunday night, and so it can get hard to get all your work done," Adam King '08, a member of the men's squash team, said. "It's hard because you travel and you have practice and games and then when you aren't playing squash you are tired from playing squash."
For the small number of athletes on campus who compete in two varsity sports, the time commitment is doubled.
"Playing two sports, I don't have time for anything else, I have no life," said Peter Pidermann '10, a member of both the football and the men's track and field teams. "Football is a year-round commitment, so when I am doing track, between class, homework, both practices, workouts, team meetings and team dinners, I barely have time to sleep, let alone do anything else."
Conversely many student-athletes find that their athletic commitments add structure to their schedules.
"It's hard to balance swimming with all of my work, but in a way it's easier when I have practice because I know that I have to get my work done in a certain time frame because I am going to be in the pool for at least four hours every day," said Meredith Blank '10, a member of the women's swimming and diving team. "On days when we don't have practice, I feel like I have all this free time and end up getting nothing done."
"It is tough, balancing academics and athletics at Dartmouth, because of the demands that both put on you," Preston Copley '07, captain of the football team, said. "You can't let down on one or the other because you know that you are here for both, that that's why you came here."
