Most high school students enjoy playing sports during their time here at FHC. Sometimes, in addition to sports, students do sports outside of school that they all have to deal with. Sophomore Sydney Mursean plays in the marching band and plays lacrosse. Outside of school, she’s in a police program and does jujitsu. Mursean always likes to keep herself busy, but she also sometimes overdoes herself. Mursean has learned that she needs to reach out to her friends for help instead of keeping it all in.
High school is tough for kids, especially those in sports, and when school gets hard, it can impact someone’s performance. If a student struggles in a class, it could result in being benched or being taken off the team. Some high schoolers have a good wrap-around for handling school and sports.
Muresan does marching band and lacrosse. When Mursean plays for her, it’s a nice break from the daily stress of school and other things.
“The adrenaline of both always keeps me physically and mentally engaged in what I’m doing during a marching band competition or during a lacrosse game,” Muresan said.
She has a good schedule for studying, doing homework, and even practicing during her sports.
“Sometimes, if I have a lot going on, I’ll lean on a friend to help me or just talk with them, which always helps me. Taking time at the end of the day to decompress and do things I enjoy,” Muresan said.
Changing from one sport to the next can be challenging, and Muresan starts thinking about her new schedule and getting ahead with schoolwork.
“The physical patience I need for lacrosse is different compared to marching band, so it’s mostly all just a positive mindset and knowing everything will not be perfect at first, but I just have to give it time,” Muresan said.
Junior Katherine Alberston plays tennis and does winter guard. She loves them when she plays her sports, but they are also complicated.
“I’ve cried about both of them, debated on quitting, but I’ve also laughed more than I ever have when I play with the people from both activities,” Albertson said. “I feel like I will always gravitate towards them because of the feeling of happiness when I am with those people and the feeling of success when I think I get something right.”
Whenever Albertson feels like she isn’t doing her best in her sports, all she does is practice. It sounds simple, but it got her through.
“It’s how I got through my first season of Winter Guard. After feeling sorry for myself, I would get back up and practice a lot, maybe for an hour or two every day. The same goes for tennis last summer; I wasn’t getting the results I wanted, so I decided to practice about three times a week. Sometimes with a friend, other times I would just go out and hit 1,500-2,000 serves, then leave,” Albertson said. “I find it to be a toxic mindset, but it leads me to improve my faults in the sports I play.”
Through her struggles, Albertson believes practice doesn’t always make perfect, but it does make you better.
“You can’t always beat talent who practices, but you can beat talent who doesn’t. Take care of yourself first. No sport is worth losing yourself or your mentality over,” Albertson said.
Senior Jack Champion does marching band and A-Band and stays healthy during the seasons by swimming at the Rec Plex.
“I don’t really work out, but I like running. I like to rock climb with my buddies. That’s kind of my workout,” Champion said.
Champion’s time off during the off seasons means a lot to him.
“I cherish the friendships that I have and my relationship with my girlfriend. It looks like me hanging out with friends, my girlfriend, and working,” Champion said.
When Champion isn’t achieving something the way he wants, he tells himself he can always work on it.
“We can always get better, and we can always practice and hope for the best next time,” Champion said.
