Sasha Hull
Lantern Staff
Comparing activity scholarships shines a light into the busy lives of the students who proudly represent Butler. From theatre to football, students on scholarship work hard to maintain their grades, social lives and keep up with the duties of their scholarships.
Sophomore Claudia Hess is on scholarship with the volleyball team and feels that her scholarship is equivalent to a job.
“I feel like if I’m getting paid for it, I need to be giving 100 percent,” Hess said. “Obviously school comes first, but they are the ones paying for my school. I need to be giving my attention to it. Our coaches are really good at managing our grades and balancing study time with practices.”
For volleyball players, the time commitment fluctuates throughout the year. During the fall, which is volleyball’s regular season, players practice every day that they are not playing or travelling. During the offseason, players attend smaller practices, individual practices and weights and conditioning.
“The teachers I have are very understanding of the athletes and as long as I tell them ahead of time, we can work it out,” Hess said.
One aspect that Hess would change for athletes and Butler students would be better time and space management of the athletic activity centers on campus.
“The only thing that’s a little rough is gym space,” Hess said. “As our season dies down and basketball season comes into play, it’s really hard to get everything to work out. There are times where I go to do a personal workout not volleyball related, and there’s not a lot of space for a regular student to get a workout in.”
Although Hess loves and enjoys volleyball, the stress and demand of regular season can be taxing on students.
“I was really tired a lot of times,” Hess said. “There was never time to do things I wanted to do, like laying down and watching an episode of Netflix. I didn’t have time for that.”
Todd Carter, Butler’s athletic director of 33 years, has noticed changes over the years of sports teams and how much time coaches require their athletes to prepare for games.
“They spend more and more time every year it seems like,” Carter said. “Sports now at this level are basically from the time school starts to the day school ends. It’s year round now and back in the day it was not.”
Carter feels as if athletes are at times more dedicated to their schoolwork than their peers.
“Athletes, as a general rule are more dedicated and work harder,” Carter said. “They know they have to stay eligible.You gain teamwork, you work hard, through your dedication and training and time commitment it gets you better prepared for real life and what’s out there.”
Every Butler athlete is under pressure during regular season to maintain grades while still performing well in their sport. All Butler students on activities scholarships work hard and appreciate the financial assistance given to them. Putting in 10 to 15 extra hours a week in order to keep scholarships is well worth the quality of education and support from Butler’s staff and faculty.
