By Noli Brown
Student-Athletes devote their time, dedication, and life to sports. Between school, practice, working out, games and a possible part-time job they still have time to make connections whether that be with their own teammates or people outside of sports.
Alena Amaya-Rodriguez, a midfielder for the Grand Rapids Community College women’s soccer team, has been playing soccer since she was just 4 years old. Being a student-athlete for her means a combination of things.
“Putting in all my efforts towards my studies but as well as what I’m passionate about, so just combining the both passions I want to do which is my career and sport,” Amaya-Rodriguez said.
When she is not playing soccer, Amaya-Rodriguez is focused on her career.
“Working at the hospital, I need clinical hours for my career, so I’m just focusing on my next steps for when soccer is over,” Amaya-Rodriguez said.
Amaya-Rodriguez follows a routine that involves attending classes from morning to mid-afternoon. Afterward, she returns home to freshen up before heading to work, reserving the very end of her day for completing homework.
When it comes to making connections, Amaya-Rodriguez connects with both her teammates and other student-athletes plus people who don’t play any sports.
“Some players from our team, depending on work schedules, will go out to eat or meet up at someone’s house to have a movie night,” Amaya-Rodriguez said.
She said she sees other student-athletes more than people who don’t play sports due to being in the Ford Fieldhouse and other training facilities.
“We all dedicate some sort of time to conditioning or weight lifting,” Amaya-Rodriguez said.
Looking into the future Amaya-Rodriguez has goals for her career and sport.
“My plan is to play soccer for as long as I can and then pursue a career as a registered nurse.” Amaya-Rodriguez said.
Avery Jirous, who plays guard for GRCC’s women’s basketball team, has been playing basketball since she was in second grade. When she is not playing her sport she spends the majority of her time coaching both boy’s and girl’s basketball at different levels, officiating games and also weightlifting in the gym.
Being a student means a lot of things for Jirous.
“I get to experience a lot of different things that other students don’t get to,” Jirous said. “I get to make different connections, learn a lot. it’s challenging and it just really means pushing myself to the next level to become a better me and to meet different people and create new experiences for myself.”
Her daily schedule consists of waking up at 5:30 a.m. to go to work and then the gym or vice versa. Following this, she attends basketball practice, and afterward, she returns home to focus on homework.
When it comes to connecting with her teammates she’s always putting in effort and doing more than just playing basketball with them. Jirous helps her teammates with homework and is there to talk about mental health as well.
“I connect with my teammates on and off the court. We work really well together when we are in practice and games,” Jirous said. “All of us get along really well together, we always hang out with each other after games, at hotel rooms, wherever we are. We talk about everything.”
When it comes to other student-athletes she crosses paths with them in the training room talking about things like sports, what we do outside of sports, and how to help each other with homework.
In the future Jirous plans on stopping her career in basketball after this year is done so she can focus on her job career.
