Latest / The BIG LIFE / Balancing the Pitch and the Classroom: Notre Dame Soccer’s Academic Playbook

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Balancing the Pitch and the Classroom: Notre Dame Soccer’s Academic Playbook · The BIG LIFE

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Welcome back to the Big Life Podcast. This episode of the Big Life Podcast is
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Yay! Leah, how did your games go this week? My game, I had one game,
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we played Louisville, and it actually went great.
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We beat them. The score was 3-1, and it was a good game for us overall.
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Well, we went down a goal, so we were down 1-0.
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So the first half, honestly, wasn't great. First 20 minutes, not great from us.
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But, I mean, our coaches and ourselves were just really proud of ourselves for
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bouncing back and scoring three goals to end up winning the game.
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I think it was kind of a testament to us that we just never gave up the whole time.
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And we knew that once we got scored on, like, we could easily win it back.
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They scored in the first half, so we were—we had time. We knew we had time to
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get the game back, and we ended up doing that. So that was great.
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I mean, credit to Louisville, though. They have, they're a very organized team,
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very well coached, super organized, especially in their defense.
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Definitely just a very organized team. And...
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Yeah, a great team. Very athletic, too. Yeah, it was a good game. How did your games go?
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Not great. We didn't have a
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great week, but looking forward to our game on Friday. We play Vanderbilt.
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I'm not really trying to look back on our games. We played LSU and Alabama in two tough games.
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But again, a Vandy game on Friday, so looking forward to that.
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Who do you guys play this week?
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This week, we have two games. We play FSU on Thursday and then SMU on Sunday.
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So, I mean, all our eyes are towards FSU on Thursday right now.
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I think they're ranked, like, number six or something right now. We're number two.
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And we definitely owe them some from the past years. So, I mean,
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they're such a talented team, too. It's going to be a great game.
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We're excited, though. We are fired up. Home game?
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Yeah, home game Thursday and Sunday. We play SMU. They're new to the ACC,
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so that should be a fun game, too.
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And it's senior night on Sunday, so that's kind of—I don't even want to think
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about that because I'm a part of senior night now. I'm a senior.
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It's going to be sad. It's like our last regular season game at home.
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So my whole family's coming up, though, so I'm excited for that and all my friends'
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families, too. But— Yay. Ugh.
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It's surreal. It's—I don't even like thinking about it. I don't want to think about that.
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I'm only thinking about FSU now. but then after fsu
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oh gosh senior night it's
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gonna be it's gonna be great do you guys do senior
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night like festivities i don't know whatever yeah before or after the game like
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a little bit so we have like our locker room our freshmen like decorate our
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locker room so that's always fun and then yeah we have like a procession kind of onto the field and,
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With, like, our parents and stuff. And then, like, just something little before the game.
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And then after the game, we're just going to, a bunch of this,
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or there's only, like, six of us seniors.
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Yeah, six. Just, like, getting together for dinner and stuff with our families. But, yeah. Yeah.
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So, yeah. It's crazy. It's already coming to an end soon. Yeah.
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It's actually insane how fast the season goes. But, like, I mean,
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for the seniors, like, it's just, I mean, like, I couldn't even imagine right
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now thinking about that.
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I know. It's like sad. But it's also like happy because I'm so grateful.
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Like all I've been through, all my seasons have been great. Like the people
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I've met have been great.
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So I'm sad, but I'm also just like I definitely am ready for the new chapter,
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whatever it brings. And just so grateful and thankful for all my time.
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And it's hard to be sad because I'm like, wow, like I had the best four years
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I could ever have imagined.
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So that's exciting and that's happy. And I'll always look back on these four
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years with just gratitude and thanks.
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So, yeah, but it's just bittersweet and I'm going to miss my friends a lot.
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But we still have, we have like three more games after that still.
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They're all away, but three more games and then hopefully we'll make a good
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run in ACC tournament and the NCAA tourney.
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So senior night's definitely not the end.
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Yeah, we got a lot of soccer left. Yeah, exactly. Well, today we actually have
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a really exciting guest, and we can't wait for you guys to hear from her.
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Today we are going to be diving into more talk about academics and balancing academics with soccer.
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Since being a student comes before being an athlete, we have a special guest
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with us today to talk more about the importance of focusing on academics while
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also balancing your time with sports.
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So today we welcome Jennifer Pratt, who is the Women's Soccer Academic Advisor here at Notre Dame.
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She helps us a lot with choosing our classes, helping us get tutors if we need,
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and she especially helps a lot with the transition of the freshmen from high school into college.
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And she's just always there for a team if we need to talk about really anything. Jen is the best.
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So, Jen, why don't you first just start,
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talking a little bit about your work and what you do here at Notre Dame.
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Yeah. Oh, my gosh, Leah. It's so fun to be here.
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I work in academic services for student-athletes, which is an office at Notre Dame.
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We have about 12 or 13 academic counselors.
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We divide up the teams. I'm lucky that I get to work with the women's soccer team.
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And in doing that, you kind of nailed it. I work a lot with the freshmen very
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closely to just kind of help them acclimate and get used to being that student and an athlete,
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especially at a place like Notre Dame where the rigor is intense and the expectations are high.
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And so I spend a lot of time with the freshmen and everything from,
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like you said, picking classes.
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Tutors, things like that, and also just kind of checking in with them and making
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sure that things are going well and that they're finding that balance. That's so important.
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Yeah. What kind of specifically drew you to this field of work to work with college athletes?
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And then what is so special about Notre Dame, would you say? Oh, gosh.
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So what drew me to this position really was, I think, Leah, I think,
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you know, my family was a military family for a long time.
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And my husband was actually, quote-unquote stationed here at Notre Dame.
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So when we moved here, I had been a stay-at-home mom for a while,
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and I decided it was time to go back to work.
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And so I was looking at just open positions and things, and I saw this job in
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the listing, and I thought, wow, that would be so awesome.
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And the reason I thought that would be awesome is because I've had other experience
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working with athletes at a different level.
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I worked for the NBA for a while, years ago, And I loved it.
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I loved working with people who just commit at such a high level,
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people who are extremely disciplined and that kind of want it all.
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And it's just it's just a fun thing.
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Group of people to work with. And so when I saw this position,
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I just thought, wow, that would be so great to just kind of help them navigate
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and learn about Notre Dame and learn about this place and learn about this community.
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And so, yeah, I applied and was offered the job and never looked back.
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So it's, I've been there now for 10 years and it's, it is, it's,
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I mean, I echo what Nate said during his episode, where Notre Dame's just a
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special place filled with really special people.
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The community is, you know, unmatched.
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There's nowhere else like it. And so being a part of it has just been really,
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really a special gift in my life.
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And being a part of the lives of student athletes has just been amazing.
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Yeah. What's been your favorite part with working with the women's soccer team at Notre Dame?
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I love this group of ladies. I just do.
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And just when I think it could not get any better, then another cohort comes
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in and I'm like, oh my gosh, I love these girls even more. I think that it's not easy.
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Being a student athlete anywhere is not easy. And I love the trust we build with each other.
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And I mean, I trust them. They trust me. My office often becomes a place where,
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yes, we talk a lot about academics, but I'm sure Leah will attest.
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We talk about a lot of other things, too.
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And, yeah, I just love getting to know each individual student as,
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you know, just for who they are and what brought them here and where they want to go from here.
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And so those conversations are so important to me.
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Just those check-in meetings are really important to me. You know,
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we have this incredible coaching staff.
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They're just deeply committed to this team and these girls and to all the support staff, too.
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They're, you know, Nate Norman checks in regularly just to make sure things
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are good. And having his support is a huge, huge part of my job and one that
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I'm incredibly grateful to have.
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Yeah, for sure. Definitely. Our staff is the best and you're definitely a big part of that.
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Kind of going off those weekly meetings that you mentioned, how do you help
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freshmen transition into college academics?
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And like through those, talk about a little bit about those weekly meetings
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that you do and then also the study hall kind of program that we have here.
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Yeah, absolutely. So we make it mandatory for all freshman student-athletes
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to meet with their academic counselor once a week. And those are just check-in meetings.
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They're probably, sometimes they might be 15 minutes. Sometimes they go much
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longer than that, just kind of depending on what the student has going on.
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And, yeah, we check in to see how classes are going. What are they enjoying?
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What kind of professors are they really enjoying learning from?
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What kind of format as far as do you like to write a lot of papers?
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Would you rather sit for exams? Again, especially a place like Notre Dame,
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these are individual, unique experiences.
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A team of 30 has 30 different ways to do it.
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And so through those meetings, I'm able to really just kind of really get to
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know the individual student athlete and learn how best I can serve that person.
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So those meetings are super important to me just to make sure that,
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again, it's a touch point, but it's an important one.
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I tell the students all the time that as soon as they cross the threshold of
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my office, I can tell if it's a good day or a bad day, you know,
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just depending on how they walk through that door. And I love being able to
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to celebrate with them when it's a really great day.
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And then I also am there if if it's not such a great day and we kind of help navigate that.
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If I'm seeing the need for resources to be put in their path,
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maybe it's going to the university counseling center.
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Maybe it's, you know, something else where, you know, maybe they're not necessarily
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accessing food, you know, well enough. They're they're doing well.
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You know, death by a million granola bars, you know, that's all they're eating
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and they're not getting enough balance there.
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You know, sometimes that's shared in my office too. And I can help them.
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I can make some phone calls, see if there's a way to help them.
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Because ultimately, when everything's going really well in the classroom and
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in your life, it's also going well in soccer.
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And same the other way. You know, when things are going well in soccer,
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it seems to translate into other things, too.
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So those weekly meetings are super important.
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And then, of course, Leah, you remember study hall. That's a mandatory part
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of our freshman first-year experience, and it's two nights a week for two hours
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each night, so a total of four hours.
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And we gather all of the student-athletes in one building.
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They have quiet study rooms, and then we bring the resources into that space.
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So we have tutoring. We have the writing center.
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We have One of us counselors is on duty each night, too.
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So if the student does have a question or needs something from us,
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we're available right there in that moment as well.
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And that's really an important foundational piece of the puzzle because I think
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it really drives home what that studying commitment really needs to look like.
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Is four hours enough to be a successful student at Notre Dame?
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No, you definitely are going to need more time than that.
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But this kind of gives them like, you know, a special time to just kind of carve
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out to just work on homework, get some readings done, work on papers.
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Meet with tutors and things like that.
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And so I know students often kind of roll their eyes that they have study hall
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that night, but ultimately it's really just to help them build that foundation. That's so important.
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Yeah, the University of Missouri, we also have like mentoring freshman year.
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And I agree that just doing that every week is huge with transition.
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A lot of it is even just like my tutors would help with,
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just homework, whatever you need. And then my advisor, they would even make
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a schedule for the week and just like figuring out exactly when things need to be due.
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And obviously your life during season is chaotic and everywhere.
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So it helps a ton, especially for our freshmen.
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Yeah. Yeah. What would you say is the biggest difference between high school
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and college academics? Oh, my goodness.
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It really comes down to the scheduling of things.
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When you're in high school, it's pretty much every day you're there from,
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let's say, 830 to, you know, 230 or whatever.
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And yeah, you might have like a, you know, part of the schedule where it's like,
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you know, you have certain classes one day, different classes the next,
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certain, you know, like a repeating type schedule.
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But for the most part, you're in classes for the same amount of time each day.
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And then you might go home for a little bit, then you go to practice,
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different things like that. And so being in college, every day is going to be a little bit different.
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You might have classes on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday, different classes,
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of course, Tuesday, Thursday.
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But I know at Notre Dame, they do a lot of discussion classes as well.
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So that might be an added thing, maybe in the evening even.
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And so getting used to that type of schedule,
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in some ways, you wind up having more free time during your day than you had
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in high school because you're not just going from class to class to class all
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day long every day. And that takes some getting used to.
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And I know a lot of times students will come into my office and kind of say,
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I don't have any time. I have no time. I have no time.
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And they don't, but they do because they might have...
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15, 20, 30 minutes here or there in between a class or, you know,
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that they can actually take advantage of.
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And I usually help them find those little windows of time that they actually
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do have that they didn't think they had.
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But yeah, I think the scheduling and the time management of it all is just completely different.
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And that's a big adjustment for students coming in their freshman year of college
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to just get used to, oh, you mean Monday, Wednesday, I have class at 930.
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Tuesday, Thursday, I don't go, I don't start my day till 1230.
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And sure enough, they're going to sleep in until 1215, and then they're going
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to roll off to class and then complain later that they don't have time.
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And so it takes a lot of discipline to make sure that you're approaching each
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day mindfully and thoughtfully and with your future self in mind,
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because stress is a thing, for sure and
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managing your time helps eliminate some
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of the stress I think yeah I would
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agree that time management and like organization is
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definitely the biggest thing at least for me too
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that I've like learned and definitely for me also
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is like keeping a planner like I have to have a planner
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to write in my backpack with me everywhere I go
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and I write down literally everything I
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have and then I cross it off when
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I'm done but yeah so just I feel like that's important keeping a planner and
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then time management what is one piece of advice you would give to future student
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athletes who are looking to play at a division one school and also like such
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a like at a prestigious academic college like Notre Dame.
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Yeah, I mean, again, it goes back to learn how to manage your time,
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because if you don't, it will manage you.
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You will absolutely fall into a big hole very quickly, which is easy to fall
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into. It's really hard to climb out.
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And the effort and energy you have to use to climb out of it is better spent,
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of course, playing soccer.
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And so learning really well, like how to organize themselves,
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if that's, and I tell students all the time that like have, it doesn't have
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to be my method for you to organize.
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Like I offer methods of organization. I show examples. We have a semester at
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a glance that we use for freshman year.
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And many students love that. There's some that just don't use it.
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And so I'm not going to push them or insist that they use that.
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However, I want them to use something. so get
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you know tell i would tell a high school student hey
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get a really good system of organization your
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moms and dads and coaches and teammates that you've
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always been with aren't going to be with you wherever you go and and those who
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you know mom's not going to be there to remind you that you have this coming
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up or that coming up or and and it really just falls on you and so So it's important
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to have that in a place where it is organized,
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where you can kind of just brain dump everything into it.
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And, and everybody has their own method for doing that. I just would tell a
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high school student to find that method and really learn how to use it well.
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And because that's always such a reactive thing for students.
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They're kind of like, wait, what? I need to, no, I don't use a planner.
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I just set reminders in my phone. And it's like, it's not going to work.
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There's a lot coming at you you know like I
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pull on students times of course coaches do professors do
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your RAs your roommates your
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you know your friends who may not be on the team are pulling on your time too
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and so you got to learn how to keep it organized and and that I mean that's
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just a huge part of of success is just really taking control of your life and your experience and
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having an organized spot to do that and knowing how
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to use it well is a gosh that would be so valuable to have day one instead of
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semester two where they realize then that a planner probably would have been
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really helpful yeah i also do something similar like leah said with the planner i have like,
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little note pop outs like on my computer and then for each class I'll like write
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but it helps so much just with like crossing it off getting it off like seeing
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it gone is like the best feeling also is you just get to like cross it off oh
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absolutely I'm totally that way too Kate I.
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Sometimes I'll put things on my list that I've done that I'm like okay I'm gonna
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just put it on my list and then check it off yeah just because that satisfaction
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of being able to check it off is huge and it really gives you momentum to just
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continue tackling the list.
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And so, yeah, I love that. You're a girl after my own heart. I absolutely love that.
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That's what I do, too. I do it with like, I'll write down on my calendar,
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like laundry, just so that I can like cross it off or like random stuff like that.
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Yeah. Yeah. Stuff that like has to get done. Yeah, exactly. But yeah,
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it feels good, doesn't it? It feels good to just be like, OK,
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look at that. I've accomplished five things.
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They might be the five simplest things, but that's okay.
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That's okay, because then you've got that feeling of moving forward and momentum
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and making progress that you can then tackle item number six. So, yeah, I love that.
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What is some advice that you would give for students who are choosing their major?
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Because I know for a lot of freshmen, even sophomores, juniors,
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it's hard trying to figure out what major you want to choose.
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So, what advice would you give to them?
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I would say that, and what I do say, is find something that you could look forward
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to learning about for eight semesters.
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And that's important because, yes, your major is important, absolutely.
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Your time in college is very important, absolutely.
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You're learning a ton every single day. And I don't ever want my students to
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feel like they're just getting beat up by their curriculum where it's like,
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well, all I do all day is study and homework and that's it.
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And I don't, you know, I don't have friends.
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I don't like I or I go to the library and I go to soccer. Like those are my two things that I do.
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And college is about so much more than that. And so if I'm starting to see students
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who are getting kind of beat up by their curriculum or where you just,
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their spirit is kind of just,
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I wouldn't say extinguished, but just like a really dull flame that I can pick
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up on very well because, of course, I meet with these students all the time.
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And it's like they you know
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what college is about just exploration it's about
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learning a lot about yourself about how
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to adult about the importance of community and just and doing things kind of
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on your own and so find a major that is going to allow you to enjoy the four
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years and look forward to the 40 years after that working in that field.
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I know years ago we had a student who she came in, she was a finance major,
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and just getting to know her, I'm like, just personality-wise.
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You just really don't strike me as a finance major.
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But she felt a lot of pressure from her family to major in finance.
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And Notre Dame, of course, has a top business school, so I get that.
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She was getting all this pressure, though. And so.
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Her spirit, I just was like, now I wasn't going to tell her she needs to change her major.
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She didn't figure that out on her own, but she was like a totally different
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student once she let go of finance and went into something that she was excited about.
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And I just remember telling her, I don't want you to just like barely survive this place.
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I want you to thrive in this place. And we all do.
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None of us want to see student athletes or any students just fail around us.
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But I want it to really just kind of fuel your spirit and your soul and just
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feel really good and feel like, hey, I've got this.
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I like learning about this. I'm interested in this.
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And I'm just excited about my time here. And I'm excited about what's ahead in this field.
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Yeah, that makes a lot of sense and definitely
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like even on our team like people switch their majors all
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the time even up until junior year and like at least
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at Notre Dame and I think other schools too it's very easy to switch your
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major which is nice and then like usually freshman year is just a bunch of like
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general classes that like will work with any major so that's kind of nice too
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you don't like have to go into college knowing like oh exactly like what you
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want I think I switched my major twice so and Now I'm in one business analytics that I really enjoy.
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Exactly. I do recall a Leah Klinkies with her major.
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And it's great. I mean, I'm sure you girls will attest too.
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You know, like the difference between an 18-year-old and a 22-year-old is really dramatic.
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Those are really important years. And so when an 18-year-old comes into my office
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and is like, okay, I'm going to major in science pre-professional.
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And I'm going to be a doctor. And they're very, very driven.
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And they're very focused on that. I'd say nine times out of ten,
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they're coming from a household where one or two parents are both doctors.
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And that's all they know. That's what's just very normal and natural to them.
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And in many cases, it's a great fit, but not in all cases.
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And college should be about that. It should be about learning more about yourself
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and being able to just find a field that you're passionate about and that you're excited about.
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It's so important. And I love that kind of discovery, working with student athletes
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and just them discovering that about themselves is really just a really fun
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part of my job. Yeah, yeah.
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Okay, kind of pivoting from this, so when we have to miss some class for travel
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trips, what is the process for, like, helping athletes to stay on track with that?
25:16
Yeah, so Notre Dame, of course, takes attendance very seriously,
25:21
and they pride themselves on having smaller class sizes, and to protect that,
25:25
they, you know, want to just make sure that students are present and accounted for.
25:30
And it's hard they move at a very fast pace and
25:33
so what I generally do if students
25:36
are missing quite a bit especially is make
25:39
sure they're working with tutors and I know sometimes there's
25:43
like a stigma students coming out of high school going to college
25:46
and they're like I don't want to work with a tutor that's no no no
25:48
and it's it's not because it's it's not punitive by any stretch of the imagination
25:53
it's really just making efficient and productive use of your time And so I want
25:59
to make sure that that student who's been traveling has those resources in place
26:03
and is using the resources and using them well.
26:06
And so I would make sure that that's really solid.
26:10
I always tell our students to make sure they have a conversation with their
26:14
professors, let them know that I'm going to be traveling to,
26:18
you know, wherever on Thursday for a game, I'm going to be missing class.
26:23
Our professors are very supportive, but they will often explain what you're going to miss.
26:30
I love when the students really just lock in with that and they're really dialed in.
26:35
Maybe they have a friend in the class who'd be willing to take some notes as well.
26:38
I always encourage to go meet with the professor during office hours or work
26:43
with the TA on content they've missed because that's the name of the game, right?
26:47
Is being able to stay up on all of the content and keep up with the pace of
26:52
it, even if you're not there.
26:54
So I would say that's also something we work really closely with the freshmen
26:58
on, making sure that, again, that foundation is built.
27:01
They understand what the process is and why it's important to kind of go outside
27:08
of the norm and make sure that they're getting the information that they missed.
27:14
Yeah we freshman year we're told
27:17
like I mean obviously we send out travel letters
27:20
that like you're going to be gone for I don't know we have
27:23
a Thursday game you'll be gone that Thursday but I
27:26
always made sure to like go and introduce myself to the
27:28
professor beforehand just because then they have your name to a face and then
27:34
you're able to like even if you come in for office hours they know like okay
27:38
this is a student athlete coming in and also I think it helps a little bit with
27:43
just introducing yourself that like you do care about the class is what I've seen.
27:48
And a lot of professors like are very thankful for that.
27:51
Absolutely. I tell students all the time that these are college professors.
27:54
They get into it because they want to work with college students,
27:58
not because they dislike that age group.
28:01
No, they've really kind of committed so much of their life to being able to teach at this level.
28:08
And it's because they want to be a part of your story and they want to be helpful
28:12
and useful and be able to connect with their students. I think that's so rewarding for professors.
28:20
And so often I'll get calls from professors that just sing their praises.
28:24
Just, oh, this student came to me.
28:26
She was so professional. She came to me. She explained that they have a game.
28:31
And yet we, our office as well, Kate sends out memos and just to all the professors.
28:36
And yeah, it's an important connection to make. And again, these professors become fans of yours.
28:43
They're just like, hey, you know what? I want to see what Leah is doing on Thursday.
28:48
How can I watch? I've had so many professors reach out to me over the many years
28:53
to just be like, is there a way I can watch this game?
28:55
How do I tune in and just see what they're doing and watch their game?
29:01
And I think that's really special. And it just speaks to them wanting to be
29:04
a part of it as well. And I think it's wonderful. all. Yeah.
29:08
Yeah. Our professors here are definitely amazing. They definitely,
29:12
most of them, at least the ones I've had in the business school,
29:15
are super understanding with all of the travel schedules and stuff.
29:19
And they're willing to work with me. And then, yeah, a bunch of them do like
29:23
come to the games and stuff.
29:24
And I'll go into class and they'll tell me like good win or like they'll comment on someone.
29:30
Even like one of my classes now, it's like 200 people, like probably the biggest
29:34
class I've been in at Notre Dame.
29:36
But he like came up to me and two other girls on our team who are in this class
29:41
and was like, pointed out one of them like, good goal the other day,
29:44
like I watched and stuff. So like that was, and he, we didn't even like,
29:48
introduce ourselves or anything he just like came right up to us in
29:51
this like huge class and we were like oh cool like he
29:53
knows who we are so yeah they definitely root for us and
29:56
like work with us really well here and I feel like that's at
29:59
most places but definitely also communication is
30:02
the key whether like even if
30:05
the academic office emails them like if you email them
30:08
too or what I'll do usually is if we
30:11
have a Thursday game let's say and I'm missing Thursday then in Tuesday
30:14
when I have that class I'll go up to him after class and be like hi
30:17
like I'm Leah I have a game on Thursday I'm not going to be in class
30:20
like is there anything I need to do and they definitely respect that a
30:23
lot and they like the communication so yeah yeah okay kind of to wrap us up
30:29
there were some people on Girls Soccer Network Instagram that asked a bunch
30:34
of questions but most of them are about like the balance with school and soccer
30:38
which we all went over and like kind of majors Like, how do you balance majors?
30:42
But one of the ones that struck me that we haven't talked about yet is someone
30:47
asked, what SAT scores and ACT scores do I need to have?
30:51
So if you could kind of talk a
30:52
little bit about that. And I think a lot of schools are test optional now.
30:55
So what would you say about that, Jen? Yeah, I can speak for Notre Dame,
31:01
of course, and they are test optional, at least for the current application cycle.
31:06
I believe last year, I think it was sometime in the mid-fall,
31:11
they announced they would continue to be test optional for this go-around.
31:15
So I'm waiting to see if they announce it again for the next application cycle.
31:23
But I think, I mean, everybody has their own opinion.
31:28
SAT and ACT scores are worthwhile.
31:32
I meet with a lot of recruits and their families often ask me if I feel the
31:38
students should take the SAT.
31:39
I think it's always a good experience to take the exam and then you decide if
31:47
it's going to help build your application or not.
31:51
Sometimes it absolutely will build your application, and it gives the school
31:56
a really good idea of where you're, I wouldn't say where you're coming from.
32:01
I mean, your transcript is obviously a part of your package,
32:04
too, and that's super important.
32:06
But I think the SAT and ACTs just kind of put it more on like a national comparison
32:11
type scale instead of, well, this individual went to a small school in a name,
32:17
let's say, Pennsylvania, and she's a star athlete.
32:20
However, that school didn't necessarily offer a lot of AP classes or anything like that.
32:25
So it kind of just elevates it a little bit in many cases, not in all cases.
32:31
And so I think it's important to include it if you feel like it's going to be resume building.
32:37
But again, there's so much to your life and to, I know I can speak for Notre
32:44
Dame, their emphasis is on building a community of people.
32:48
And what they don't want is 2,000 incoming freshmen that are all identical.
32:53
They want them coming from different backgrounds. They want them having different
32:57
experiences. They want them coming from both cities and country and international.
33:04
And so building this community is really critical.
33:08
And that's not necessarily measured in SAT and ACT scores. I think it's important
33:14
to build your resume as solidly as you can.
33:18
And again, if that includes a top-notch SAT or ACT score, then by all means,
33:23
you know, I'm sure the admissions office will find it helpful.
33:27
But, but yeah, I mean, it is test optional. And so I can't say there's,
33:33
there's no magic number. I couldn't say that, you know, well,
33:38
you have to be perfect now.
33:40
And so there's no magic number. I wish there was because I get that asked that
33:44
question quite a bit, but yeah.
33:48
Yeah, well, that'll make sense. And I mean, it's kind of nice.
33:51
I feel like being test optional just so that you do have the choice. So like you can take it.
33:56
And then if you're like, oh, like, this is really good. I want to submit it
33:59
or like, oh, maybe it would be better not to like you just have that choice.
34:03
And I feel like that makes it better, especially for athletes who like since
34:07
your sport is helping you a little bit to get into the university,
34:12
like you maybe like the test is even more optional.
34:16
Like, you don't need to submit it all the time, but definitely should if it's,
34:20
if you think it'll help your application.
34:23
Yeah, and I would say, too, like, to add to that, Leah, is it's an important
34:27
experience to have, to sit for an exam like that, to,
34:32
you know, almost, like, even have that sort of anticipation and to be able to
34:38
actually understand what a test like that feels like.
34:41
Because again like it's important to look into future you
34:44
and if and maybe that's there's a grad school opportunity
34:47
down the road that you might have to take an
34:50
exam to you know before you apply and having
34:53
gone through an SAT or an ACT already once you at least know that feeling so
34:58
I think it's it's generally a usually a great experience to have regardless
35:03
of the outcome yes it to have gone through that once makes it a little less
35:08
intimidating down the road if and when you decide that that path is for you.
35:12
Right. That makes sense. Just a great, good life experience learning lesson.
35:17
So I think that's pretty much it for this interview. Thank you so much for being
35:22
our special guest today and helping us with this interview.
35:25
We loved hearing all about the academic side of division one athletes and what it takes to be,
35:31
student and an athlete personally from the
35:34
Notre Dame women's soccer team we are all so lucky to
35:37
have you as our advisor and we appreciate your
35:40
constant help and support so much so thank you so much oh my goodness well this
35:45
was great Leah thank you for inviting me Kate it was so nice meeting you and
35:49
thank you this was really a fun way to spend spend some time tonight and yeah
35:54
it's important finding that balance
35:55
between being a student and an athlete is is hard to do and it does,
36:00
I'm just, I love being able to just play a little part in that,
36:04
to just help those students find that balance, and then just watch them just,
36:08
holy cow, just explode with all of it, you know, and it's just a really fun process.
36:15
So, so yeah, glad to be here, glad to share a little bit about what I do,
36:19
and yeah, I appreciate the invitation. Of course, thank you.
36:24
All right, thank you. So that was a great interview from Jen,
36:28
and I actually learned so much.
36:29
I just definitely want to echo her point about organization and time management
36:33
and just how important that is in college. I think for me, that was the biggest
36:37
step up from high school, too.
36:39
Like, in high school, my high school gave us planners to write all our stuff
36:44
in, but in college, it's all on your own. You have to get your planners,
36:47
your school supplies, stay organized however you want.
36:49
And like Jen was talking about, you have two, maybe three classes a day,
36:54
and the rest of your day is free. I mean, obviously practice and stuff too.
36:58
You definitely have a more free time. So it's like, what are you going to do with that free time?
37:01
And it's hard to just do anything but homework,
37:07
but really important to just use all the little gaps you have to do schoolwork
37:11
or whatever you need to do to stay caught up on things so that you don't have
37:15
to procrastinate about assignments and stuff.
37:18
So yeah, that was my biggest takeaway. What was yours?
37:20
I think my biggest takeaway, I kind of talked about this during the interview
37:25
though was the relationships you can make with professors and then also just
37:29
like class like taking classes that you know are going to be like beneficial to you and then.
37:38
Obviously she was talking about they I don't
37:40
know if they like really you guys know like she'll like
37:43
know the professor and like what works well for you guys and
37:46
the soccer team and that's the same here but then
37:50
building relationships with those professors is huge
37:54
just because you never know also like
37:56
later in life with like the connections maybe you
37:59
need something from one of those professors and they
38:02
know that you were a good student you're on the soccer team and
38:05
you're still like good in their class on top of
38:08
work even during season is huge so I just
38:11
try to like build a relationship somewhat of
38:14
a type of relationship even if it's just like they
38:17
know you by your first name know who you are in the class because
38:20
I mean at least for me some of my classes are
38:23
like 200 plus people lectures and
38:27
the professor maybe knows 10 kids
38:31
in that class and if they know
38:34
you like out of 200 kids
38:37
that's says a lot and it's
38:41
like always great to just build that build those relationships
38:44
introduce yourself and and they'll
38:47
help you out a lot of times too yes yes
38:50
because they know that you like care about it like the class
38:52
exactly for sure like if you
38:55
talk to them like there's no way you're getting a bad grade in
38:58
that class like they'll give you a good grade just because you go.
39:01
Up and say hi and like show that you're interested so that's
39:04
like definitely like not a secret
39:07
like they can literally just bump up your grade because they're like
39:10
oh they're a good student and they're really trying hard
39:13
so they're gonna or whatever yeah and a
39:16
lot of them also have had like athletes probably before
39:19
too that like even this semester i introduced
39:22
myself to one of my professors and he's like you're the
39:24
first athlete that's ever like introduced yourself to me
39:27
and that that just says a lot like yeah
39:30
it does say a lot in our women's soccer team
39:33
here like we're really really big on academics like our GPA is crazy high like
39:39
as a team crazy crazy high and we take like pride in that so I think having
39:46
a team also that is like really big on that and on top of it and our seniors
39:49
every year I've been here have been very like.
39:53
Our GPA does not drop. Like, and it has. It's gotten even better,
39:56
like, each year. And it's just, it's mind-blowing how long it's gotten. Yeah, that's awesome.
40:01
But yeah, I think that's also something that, credit to them,
40:05
we have had really good GPA just because of that.
40:09
Yeah. Wait, no, that's awesome. That's great. And yeah, I feel like everyone
40:13
always says, like, networking is so important.
40:16
So just, like, talking to all your professors, like, getting the connections.
40:19
Because, yeah, they can help you with even, like, jobs later in life and stuff.
40:23
Or, like, getting an internship or something. Like, your professors can help with that so much.
40:28
One of my professors actually worked with, he taught our class called Sports Analytics this past.
40:35
It was in the spring we took it, and he helped us, me and this other girl on
40:39
my team, Lainey, on this project that we use our, like, GPS data from our little,
40:44
like, trackers that we wear.
40:46
Every practice and game to, like, track our running, distance,
40:49
accelerations, like, speeds.
40:51
We did like a whole project on that like with the help of
40:53
our professor and we like presented it to or we
40:57
didn't present it but we kind of talked about it with like our coaches
41:00
and our strength coach like about we really looked
41:03
at like what speeds and stuff we need to hit the day before
41:06
a game in order to like peak and like have the
41:08
highest speeds and like the most success like on game
41:11
days so that was like cool like yeah and we just did that
41:14
because me and Lainey were talking to the professor and
41:17
we like one we had to do a project for the class so we're
41:20
like why don't we use our own data and he really helped us out with
41:22
that so it's an example of us kind
41:25
of networking I guess creating a relationship with our professor and he was
41:29
so interested in that and interested in us and soccer and was able to help us
41:33
a lot so but yeah there's other stories like that like some people on my team
41:37
have like gotten jobs and internships and stuff just from like one professor
41:41
that they reached out to one time or something.
41:44
We have a lot of people that are wanting to go into some type of field of medical,
41:52
and they know they have to build a relationship because they have to get a letter
41:58
of recommendation from the presser.
42:01
So they've built very good relationships and have gotten good recs.
42:08
Yeah, it goes a long way. Just because of it, yeah.
42:11
Yeah. We had some of you guys ask us some questions about academics and soccer
42:17
on the Instagram, and these three were pretty similar.
42:20
How do athletes manage demanding majors with training and travel?
42:25
And the other two were pretty similar.
42:27
How challenging is it to balance soccer and high-level soccer academics?
42:32
Do you think it's hard to handle studying games practices at the same time?
42:36
So what would you say your answer
42:39
to that is Leah how
42:42
do you manage your major with
42:46
training and traveling and everything I mean it definitely is more difficult
42:51
than high school because you're not like babied like you're not told what to
42:55
do like you kind of have to figure it out yourself and if you don't go to class
42:59
or anything like no one's gonna tell you you're doing it wrong you're just going
43:02
to end up with a bad grade.
43:04
But in the time, again, like Jen said, like, it's all about time management.
43:08
It definitely is difficult, but you have to stay disciplined and,
43:11
like, stay on a schedule.
43:13
And then when you're traveling, like, and you're when you're in the bus,
43:16
on the plane, whatever, like, half of our team is always just doing homework.
43:20
So just using, like, all the little time you get, like, even before games.
43:25
Like, we're all in the lounge, like, doing work and stuff.
43:28
I mean, and it definitely obviously depends on your major. Some majors are,
43:31
like, easier for people than others some are
43:34
more demanding but I would say with the majors
43:37
like pick if you want to do
43:40
the hardest major go to the hardest major and
43:43
be a soccer player like you can do anything like
43:46
you really there's no like limit on what you
43:49
can or can't do it's like just how much like you personally can handle
43:52
and then also like how much free time you want just for
43:55
yourself and stuff but if do any
43:57
I my advice is any major that you
44:00
want to do you should do it and not worry about
44:03
oh like what if it takes too much of my time like no go do it
44:06
and like be that be that girl who does that and like just prove everyone wrong
44:11
or if people are like oh it's too hard like no go do it we have an engineer
44:15
on our team right now so I mean and she's always doing work like in the locker
44:19
room and stuff but I mean she's doing it and she's gonna have such a good job after she graduates.
44:26
So kudos to her for that.
44:28
But yeah, no, you can do anything, but definitely I would just echo Jen's point
44:31
on you have to stay organized and you're
44:35
be very good at time management yeah what
44:39
would you say I mean I agree time management is
44:42
huge and also figuring out like the early stages
44:45
what works best for you like with studying and keeping everything on track because
44:53
at first I had like you and I would do a planner and then I was like I just
44:57
need like there's just too much stuff like I would have the planner and my computer
45:01
and everything in my iPad.
45:03
So I just did these little like pop-up notes on my computer and then I'll like
45:07
literally go through on Sunday or if I can't on Monday and write every single assignment that I have.
45:15
If I need to study, if I need to listen or read or whatever and then like when
45:20
it's due and then take it off.
45:22
And then obviously I know what my soccer schedule is.
45:25
So I know when like I'll have time to get things done and then also just like
45:29
being on top of your work.
45:31
Is huge like doing stuff in
45:33
advance because I know that I'm going to be traveling on
45:37
like we have a Friday game like I know I'm not going to be in class on my classes
45:42
on Friday so I like have to get whatever needs to be done before then so then
45:48
on Friday I'm not like oh crap I have this this on that I need I should have
45:53
done and I want to be taking a nap before the game.
45:58
Just being on top of stuff just because later I know that I'm not going to be
46:02
wanting to do it but also when it comes to like the level of major we have how
46:10
many people I think we have three pre-med right now and like we had like four last year like,
46:18
if you can handle it and you can do it and you're, you can do it well,
46:22
then like do it, like go for it, go and do it.
46:25
Like nobody should be stopping you. We also had an engineer last year and she
46:29
has a great job now and she killed it.
46:31
Like when she was here and she was a captain on our team.
46:34
And like, if you can do it and you can deal with the time management,
46:38
like the, the resources in college are going to be there for you.
46:43
It's just, how do you use them?
46:46
Like When do you go to your advisor? Do you tell them, I'm really struggling
46:49
in this class. I need a tutor.
46:52
Like, just figuring out, like, what you need because they're going to help,
46:56
like, find what you need.
46:59
They'll literally do anything for you. Yeah.
47:02
Like, it's just kind of however much you go and ask for the help, they'll help you.
47:09
Right. especially even if like if a class is
47:12
challenging and like they know somebody else some
47:15
other athlete that has already previously took it and could obviously
47:19
not they're not going to give you like homework or like stuff like that like
47:22
but just help you in a way that like maybe they
47:25
can't like they'll seek out anything yeah
47:28
for you to do well if you ask
47:31
yeah right yeah but yeah
47:34
it's all to you to like take the initiative and like do
47:37
ask for that yeah yeah okay well
47:41
I think that's it for today great episode
47:44
learned a lot about academics and just really
47:47
on how to balance everything and create relationships with your professors that
47:52
those are the two most important things so yeah yeah well thank you guys for
47:57
listening to another episode of the big life podcast if you guys want to ask
48:02
us any questions feel free to reach out to us on instagram,
48:05
or the girl soccer network we love hearing from you guys so can't wait to see you guys next week.