By Jenna Rasmussen & Christin Akrawee
Executive
Henry Ford II HS
With the alarm clock ringing at the break of dawn, the girls varsity swim team heads to their morning practice in the cold pool for the start of the day.
Managing the time for school, a social life and playing sports can make balancing everything a challenge. Time management is something the team faces in order to keep their grades high, attend practice daily and still find time to sleep.
The girls are also forced to find the time to do all of their assigned activities for the day. They have to create a strictly organized routine that helps keep them on track.
“I manage my time by always being on task and getting everything done as soon as possible,” junior Marissa O’Connor said.
O’Connor usually gets home as late as 9:30-10 p.m. and usually has homework to finish.
“Outside of swim, I do powerlifting and I throw for track. Most of the time, I get my homework done during school and if I do not, I do it when I get home,” O’Connor said.
Many students struggle with managing time for their extra curricular activities. It’s especially challenging for the girls to complete homework at such a late hour, maintain their social lives and attend any extracurricular activities on top of that.
“My biggest challenge being on the team is managing my other activities like Student Council, HOSA, French Club and Key Club,” junior Lexington DiMichele said.
They practice swimming everyday after school until 5 p.m., which could sometimes interfere with other activities. On top of after school practices most days, they also have morning practices on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
“Basically I go to swim practice then… weightlifting and then band,” sophomore Danielle Webster said.
The girls also have very early practices to start off their morning before sunrise.
“For the swim team, morning practices can be difficult because I have to wake up at 4:30 a.m. and be at the school at 5 a.m.,” junior DiMichele said.
The girl’s morning practices usually last an hour. Afterward they hang out at school until it’s time for first hour.
“The most difficult part of being in swim is the commitment,” freshman Aubrey Pritchard said. “Swimming takes a lot out of your day, so I have to stay determined so I can succeed as an athlete and a student.”
From a loud alarm clock in the morning all the way to closing an Algebra II book after a long day of school and homework, this is just the average day in the life of a swimmer.
1st Place
Division 3, Yearbook Verbal
Y-03. Sports Feature Writing
Any topic that spotlights an unusual aspect of any event, a coach, a player or any controversy. An individual story may not be submitted in more than one writing category. Submit a PDF of the page(s) showing the entry. CLEARLY INDICATE WHICH STORY YOU WISH JUDGED in Additional Information field if there are multiple stories on the page.
JUDGING CRITERIA
- Clear, relevant, engaging feature angle
- Solid lead that draws reader into story
- Meaningful student quotes that enrich story and reflect effective interviewing
- Evidence of adequate research
- Story meaningfully adds to sports coverage
- Adheres to rules of good journalism including: short paragraphs, effective transitions and use of active voice, freedom from editorial comment, careful editing and proofreading to eliminate mechanical errors, correct use of grammar