Penn State athletes compete at the highest level; however, some of these athletes take it a step further, elevating their academics to a higher level via the Schreyer Honors College.
“My whole life, I was a really curious child and loved to be busy,“ Gwendolyn Powell, a freshman on the women’s golf team, said. “My parents were also busy, very successful people. They really pushed me to explore different options.”
During her childhood, Powell participated in ballet, piano and several sports, including golf. Golf stuck with her the most due to her grandfather’s love for the game.
By age 10, she began competing in golf. Once her love of the game developed and she found success on the course, she knew both her academic and athletic careers could go far.
“(My parents) always pushed me in school to do well,” Powell said. “They never really put too much expectation on me in the classroom, I just naturally kind of loved school and was good at it.”
For athletes like Matt Underhill, a junior on the men’s gymnastics team, education came first, and gymnastics was just a fun hobby in high school.
“Academics-wise, I’ve always been high-achieving in that sense,” Underhill said. “When I was really young, I was really interested in the STEM fields, especially math, so I got pushed into the gifted classes where you’re a grade or two ahead.”
Contrary to Underhill, Will Fleck, a junior on the men’s gymnastics team, had academics on the back burner growing up as he focused on his work in the gym.
“I’ve always been pretty high-achieving in academics, but I would say in high school, my main focus was gymnastics,” Fleck said. “School is something I kind of just did, and I’ve had a switch in college where I would say my main focus is academics and building myself toward my future career.”
Fleck was searching for a big-name college where he could succeed in gymnastics and academics. Michigan and Stanford stood out to him, but he chose Penn State due to Schreyer’s name recognition and the university’s strong gymnastics program.
“(Applying to Schreyer) was suggested during my recruiting visit by our assistant coach, Tony Beck,” Fleck said. “That was kind of a big motivation for me applying.”
At Penn State, these athletes dove headfirst into successful athletic careers, as Underhill was named an All-American in his freshman season and Powell played 17 rounds of golf despite only being a freshman.
However, as Schreyer students, these athletes also have to balance their courseload, honors classes, writing their thesis and different Schreyer events to succeed in their academic lives.
“Really taking the time to sit down and do my schoolwork right now, and then when it’s time for softball, just being all in at softball and knowing at that time I’m a softball player, and during my schoolwork time I’m a student,” Maddie Gordon, a senior on the softball team, said. “I just gotta really take the time to divide those two things and just make sure I’m actually giving myself the opportunity to excel.”
With additional extracurriculars, like Fleck being part of the undergraduate research program for the electrical engineering department, or Underhill serving as the vice president of operations for the Nittany Lion Fund, a lot of extra time is spent not just in the classroom or the gymnasium, but also fulfilling these roles.
“Just the structure of college compared to high school, it’s a lot more independent, kind of working on your own and making your own schedule,” Fleck said. “I get to a point sometimes where there’s just not enough hours in the day, and you have to make sacrifices.”
Time management is a big skill that these Schreyer athletes have developed, working to fit all of their commitments into their schedule. However, there have been times when it didn’t work out.
At the start of her collegiate career, Powell was faced with choosing between athletics and academics, as she was set to attend the Schreyer Honors Orientation and a golf event the same weekend.
To make the best of both worlds, she had to cut back on her social life outside of these two commitments.
“Communication was really key and just expressing what my end goals are and what my priorities are,” Powell said. “Obviously, both of them are huge priorities, but ultimately that was the situation.”
Through their athletic and academic careers, they’ve experienced many opportunities that any other individual wouldn’t have experienced. One of the biggest things is that emotions and feelings look different depending on the environment they’re in.
“(Being in Schreyer) has opened some doors to new opportunities, whether that’s going to continue my education in grad school or just getting some new connections,” Gordon said. “I think it’s helped me learn how to work under pressure. As an athlete, you know how to work under pressure on a softball field, but the Schreyer stuff really helped me apply that to a professional setting.”
The one thing that is similar between their academics and athletics is the ability to use them to better the other. Underhill views his balance between school and gymnastics as an outlet for each other.
“(Academics and athletics) have kind of synergies between the two,” Underhill said. “Gymnastics can be an outlet if I’m stressed in school with a bunch of exams, or having a bunch of like-minded individuals that I get to talk to about financial markets really helps me not put too much stress on myself when it comes to performing within gymnastics.”
There is likely someone who’s only an athlete and is more skilled or successful, or someone who focuses on the classroom and may have greater success with school.
However, recognizing that there are people who are better and using each other’s strengths makes the group better, according to Powell.
“What really helps is knowing that you’re not going to be the best at the specific thing you do, either in the classroom or on the golf course,” Powell said. “There are so many other ways that you can help your team and your classmates, the professors, your coaches, that really make the team atmosphere, the classroom atmosphere better in a way that highlights your strengths.”
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