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| Appalachian student
juggles school, field hockey, work |
Becky
DiVerniero
Features Beat |
Jacque Lenz | The AppalachianSenior Amy E. Sarno is a goalie
for the field hockey team. The team holds three practices a
day, the first is at 5:30 in the morning.
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Appalachian State
University senior Amy E. Sarno’s head hurts a little. No,
it’s not from the two concussions she sustained this season
as a goalie on the Appalachian field hockey team, but rather from
the constant battle of trying to juggle athletics, a job and class
every semester.
“It’s very time consuming,” Sarno said.
Sarno, a public relations major from Williamsburg, Va., said she
has played field hockey since the seventh grade.
“I’ve been a goal keeper since my sophomore year in
high school,” Sarno said. “In high school I did all
sorts of things; I played lacrosse, tennis [and] volleyball. I’ve
grown up doing athletics. At college, field hockey takes up most
of my time. The field hockey [has had] intramural soccer and basketball
teams, but I don’t have time for anything besides intramurals.”
“The [field hockey] schedule is very intense.
We come [to Appalachian] about three weeks before everyone else,
and we start practicing in the summer. We have about three practices
a day, a morning practice, an afternoon practice and then a later
practice, which is usually a pool workout or running and just
conditioning. |
“Then
once [classes start], we have practice every day. We usually get
one day off a week. Practice is technically from 2 [until] 4 p.m.
But we’re out there from one until 4:30 or 5 p.m. On top
of that we have lifting, so on certain days we could be out there
easily contributing six hours to field hockey.”
With 20-30
games every season, Sarno, like many athletes, must deal with
missing class.
“Most of my teachers have been extremely flexible,”
she said. “At the beginning of the semester, on the first
day of class, I introduce myself and I give my teacher a schedule
… and a week before each of the games I’ll let them
know I’ll be missing later that week. If I have something
due on a day I’ll be gone, I’ll turn my work in before
hand.
“I have had one professor that since I was an athlete did
discriminate against me blatantly, but you just go with it and
try to patient. But for the most part at [Appalachian], my teachers
have been incredible.”
Sarno said since she is an athlete, she is often stereotyped as
someone who has it easy.
“I think that people don’t realize that being a female
athlete here [playing] a non-revenue sport, we don’t get
a lot necessarily from the university,” she said. “We
are out there not because of the money or the perks, because it
wouldn’t be worth it. My scholarship … is basically
enough to buy some books. Sometimes people assume that you’re
an athlete so you get all this money, and you get all these perks,
and that’s not the case when you’re on the field hockey
team.
“We’re out there because we love it … not because
they’re paying me to. If I wanted to get paid to be an athlete,
I wouldn’t have chosen field hockey.
“We would have 5:30 morning conditioning and practice, and
then I’d have to go to an 8 o’clock class and right
from [that] go to meetings, because I’ve been in student
government and I was a [resident assistant] … so when people
are waking up at 7 o’clock to go to an 8 o’clock class
I was up at five. I went to class, doing the work just like they
[did]. My teachers, even though they were helpful, they don’t
bend over for me. I get good grades and bad grades just like everybody
else.”
Sarno is also involved in Appalachian Ambassadors, serving as
the new member educator.
“The thing with me is that I love field hockey, but a part
of me wanted to branch out and meet other people besides athletes.
I joined Ambassadors, and I’m passionate about Ambassadors
too.
“Once the new [Ambassador] class is selected they’ll
go through a six-week training class, and I’m in charge of
that. I have to put together a course syllabus, get guest speakers,
[plan] etiquette dinners [and] things like that. I’m in charge
of organizing all that and holding each of the classes each week
for six weeks. They are two-hour classes.”
Even with all her stressful responsibilities, Sarno said she would
not change a thing.
“I think when you’re passionate about two things, even
if they’re both time consuming, it makes it easy to do,”
she said. “Sure, at times I was crazy busy, and I would be
up at 5:30 a.m. doing work; then I’d go straight to class,
and then I’d have to go to practice, and then right to the
office. Maybe I wouldn’t come home until one in the morning,
but for me the sacrifices I made were worth it.
“I love both so much that I wanted to do them, so it wasn’t
hard for me. They were both very rewarding for different reasons.
It’s all about time management, dedication and a love for
what you’re doing.” |
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