This week, in addition to finding time to study for exams and write final papers, many Dartmouth teams are traveling to compete for league or national titles.
This weekend Dartmouth's women's basketball team will play its last two conference games on the road, the women's hockey team will face St. Lawrence in the semifinals on Saturday before a potential championship game on Sunday in its battle for the Eastern College Athletic Conference hockey league championship title, and the men's swimming and diving team left Hanover on Wednesday for the Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League championships, which will last until Saturday.
"It's probably the worst timing they could have planned," Spenser Mestel '11, a member of the men's diving team, said. "We leave at 3 p.m. [on Wednesday] and get back really late Saturday night."
Despite the swimmers' woes, the most trying of time conflicts is for the Big Green skiers that qualified for the NCAA championship event. The skiers left on Thursday, Feb. 28 -- more than a week ago -- for Montana and will stay until this Sunday, March 9.
"We basically have to try and give our professors enough forewarning that this is coming up down the road," Nordic skiing captain Elsa Sargent '08 said. "It works, but you have to be pretty self motivated and on top of your work, and you have to kind of make it work."
In addition to the stress of finals, teams must also temper the excitement leading up to the possibility of a championship. Managing it all is far from easy.
"It's pretty difficult because we're on the road again for finals," women's basketball co-captain Kristen Craft '08 said.
Women's hockey captain Nicole Ruta '08 agreed.
"Yeah, it's definitely difficult," she said. "But we try and focus on balancing and managing our time."
The teams try to juggle academics and sports traveling during finals in a variety of ways, including studying on the bus, getting work done early and discussing their schedules with their coaches and teachers.
For the younger athletes, the long bus rides with the team have some advantages.
"Its nice, because there are always other people [on the bus] who can help you if you need it," Mestel, a freshman, said. "The upperclassmen can help you."
Many of the teams noted the importance of planning ahead.
"You've just got to try to plan ahead as much as you can" Sargent said.
In general, Mestel noted, athletes are pretty good at this.
"Sometimes athletes are more aware they have less time so the just get their stuff done in advance," he said. "So they just don't have time to play games like Tetris, and it's too bad."
As an Ivy League school, Dartmouth maintains that academics still come first, even during the playoffs.
But Matt Reber '11, a forward on the men's hockey team, disagrees.
"It's hard to travel [for sports] and go to school here, because they stress academics more than athletics," he said. "And hockey, hockey is why I'm here."
The coaches try to make sure that they do everything they can to ensure academics come first without sacrificing the competitiveness of their teams.
"Our coaches are really lenient in helping us out in getting our work done," Ruta said.
"[Our] coaches offered to get us one of those business rooms to study in," Craft said.
For all of the careful planning and time management of the athletes, traveling this week has been an impediment to their studies.
"I only have two classes," Reber said. "And I still had to get an extension."
Ruta and Reber both agreed that preoccupation with the excitement of the ECAC tournament has gotten in the way of their studies.
"Being in the tournament, we're a little more focused on playing hockey," Ruta said.
But all in all the time adjustment during finals is clearly worth the chance to play for a championship to the players. On the other hand, when the teams get back to campus on Saturday and Sunday, the players have to crack down on their work.
"Everyone will just pull an all-nighter, and it sucks, but it gets it done" Mestel said. "[This weekend] is difficult, but its not impossible."
