hours on Halloween – but Dean also en- courages students to form their own groups. “It can be just a few friends saying, ‘Hey, let’s get to practice early, find a quiet corner and get some work done together.’” Williams says study groups are popular at Stanford, too. “There’s a lot of collaboration, and
that’s helpful,” she says. “We all know that studying on the road isn’t the most fun, so having someone else to help you work through things and keep you focused is beneficial.”
STAY IN THE MOMENT Once the volleyball begins, your full attention should be on what’s happening in the practice or match. “It’s tough to disci- pline your mind, but you have to make sure you’re living in the moment,” Harmotto says. “There’s nothing you can do [during a match or practice] about that five-page pa- per, so enjoy that volleyball time. And then when you’re in school, focus on school.” The same is true, she says, for volley- ball. If you’re receiving serve, you should not be thinking about the blocking scheme for the next play. Your focus should be on that one side out, nothing more.
ORGANIZE YOUR RESEARCH, THEN ASK QUESTIONS Lowe has a good process for preparing to study. “First, I indentify all of my re-
sources – notes from lectures, the textbook, online resources – and then I organize how much I’m going to study from each. After studying, I organize all of my questions and go to the professor’s office and ask ques- tions. Having specific questions before you see the professor helps a ton.”
GET TO KNOW YOUR TEACHER OR PROFESSOR Aside from the obvious benefit of being able to use your professors or teachers as information resources, developing a con- nection with them is a plus. Teachers are human. If you are more than just a name and a number in their minds, it may help when they’re deciding between giving you a B+ or an A-.
“If your professor or TA knows you and can remember a conversation they had with you, for sure they’re going to grade your project or whatever with a little bit of a bias because they know you and know you care about it,” Lowe says.
MAKE TIME FOR SLEEP For busy student-athletes, sleep is often the first thing to go. You’ve got practice, homework, tests, matches, a social life – who has time for sleep? Well, make time. It’s important. Shirk- ing sleep can negatively impact your play and your studies. (See Shawn Hueglin’s ar- ticle on Page 54. She recommends 7-9 hours
for adults, 9-10 hours for adolescents.) “It’s something I wish I would have paid more attention to in college,” Har- motto says. “Now I really value that whole sleep idea and believe in it. You’re trying to recover [from training and matches] as quickly as you can, and sleep is so impor- tant in that.” A quick search of Google Scholar will
offer you many studies on all the bad stuff that happens when you don’t get enough sleep, including sluggish thinking, a diminished ability to learn new things and reduced problem-solving capabilities. Some studies indicate that sleep-deprived people function similarly to people who are legally drunk.
TAKE A BREAK It’s easy to get stressed. Student-athletes at all levels have a lot going on, and while volleyball is meant to be fun, players (and coaches) who are serious about it work very hard to get better. “During the day, it’s OK to go sit under a tree for 15 minutes or listen to music,” Dunning says. “You’ll feel better, and you’ll reduce your stress. I like to go walk outside. If I do that, when I come back, whatever it was that was lighting my fuse for a few minutes is gone, and I’m much more relaxed and ready to do the next thing well. Stress doesn’t make anybody perform better. It makes 100 percent of the people perform worse.”
DON’T SETTLE FOR JUST BEING GOOD
Whatever level you’re at in volleyball or school, one thing is almost certain: The next level is going to be more challenging. When you understand that, you also understand why you’re not really competing against other people as much as you’re competing with yourself.
“When you’re younger, it’s a good idea to have an athlete [who has played and stud- ied at a higher level] talk to you about what it’s like,” Dunning says. “You don’t want to limit yourself by thinking that what you’re doing in high school is all you need to do. If you start developing your habits earlier to [perform] at a higher level, the next level may not be so hard.”
WELL-ROUNDED LION: Christa Harmotto developed her discipline early at Penn State University and her work ethic has helped her excel in the United States Women’s Volleyball Team program. She earned several academic honors while competing in college. (Photos: Penn State, USAV/Eric Francis)
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