Back to Reality

RIING! RIING!

My body shot up from my restless slumber as I slammed my alarm clock off. The sun hadn't even come up as I looked around my dark, gloomy room in despair. It was Monday morning, the day right after the 2023 Synchronized Skating Nationals. It had merely been hours since I said my last goodbye to my team at the Peoria airport, leaving the best experience of my life behind for an unbearable day at school.

At least everyone else is probably going through the same thing. I thought to myself. With being a student athlete, facing this post-competition stress is inevitable.

“Rachel, it’s 6:40 already!” My mother yelled from the kitchen, interrupting my train of thought.

“Be down in 10 minutes, you’re going to be late for school!”

I sleepily got myself dressed, packed my school bag, and raced to the bus stop without even having time for breakfast.

When I stepped into the cold, lifeless building, I was hit with a huge wave of sadness. The fluorescent lights were blinding, the air was frigid, and I felt dissociated as the minutes went by. It didn’t feel real; I had gotten used to life competing in Peoria with my team, and just like that I was back at school, with double the stress. I truly didn’t think it was fair that I had to go through all this. I was gone for the entire week, and not a single teacher showed any sympathy.

I sat down in my first period class and grudgingly opened my Chromebook. My stomach was filled with butterflies as I pulled up my grades; it had been the first time I did anything school related since I left. I knew I was in for a shock. My Chromebook was drowned out by the bright red of my missing assignments and failing grades. I couldn’t even feel bad for myself; it was my fault. I should’ve been more diligent with my time in the hotel. I spent my free time making memories with my teammates, and school was the last thing on my mind.

“Class, pull out your pencils. We’re taking our unit test!” Mrs. Smith announced to the class.

Oh crap. I thought to myself. I completely forgot we had our unit test on Monday!

I regretfully cleared my desk and prepared to completely fail the first test of many.

The rest of the day wasn’t much better. While my friends went to lunch, I was trapped alone in a cold classroom making up one of my many tests, and checking off as much as I could from my never ending to-do list. The sounds of clapping I remembered from the ice were drowned out by the loud lectures from my teachers. By the time school was over, I was ready to give up. Walking into my house, I was ready to collapse onto my bed for a much needed nap. However, my mother had different plans.

“Rachel, care to explain why the only A in your gradebook is in PE?” She questioned, giving me her glare of disappointment.

I sighed, knowing she was right. Every single one of my grades had dropped lower than they’ve ever been.

“I’m sorry mom, I’m trying my best to get them up.” I replied. “It’s just going to take some time, I’ve got a lot on my plate right now.”

My mom simply shook her head.

“You know, if ice skating is this harmful to your academics, I don’t know if we can continue.”

There it was, my least favorite threat in the world. You could take away anything from me, just not ice skating. Being with my team was a fundamental part of my happiness, without it I wouldn’t be able to function. With a guilty frown, I nodded and went up to my room. There was a lot to be done.

However, before I began to tackle my long list of late work, I decided to facetime my best friend, Caroline. She was on my team and missed the same week of school I had, so I assumed she was facing the same struggles.

“Hey, Rachel!” Caroline greeted, with excitement in her voice. “Aw, why do you look so sad?”

“Well, today was probably the worst day of school I’ve literally ever had.” I replied. “I have so much missing work from Nationals, I don’t know if I’m ever going to catch up!”

Caroline gave me a sympathetic smile over the phone.

“Well, I also have a bit of work to catch up on, but it honestly hasn’t been too bad. I spent a lot of our free time in the hotel studying and following classes online, so I’m really not that behind.” She exclaimed.

I stared at her, with a perplexed look on my face. There I was, thinking that the stress I faced after Nationals was inevitable, when there were people on my team who weren’t behind at all.

“Wow, that’s really great. I wish I could say the same, but I really wasn’t doing much school work at all during the competition.” I shamefully responded.

“It’s okay, I know you’ll catch up Rachel. You’re a hard worker!” Caroline chirped, before hanging up the phone.

I threw my phone on the floor and fell onto my bed. That conversation had not gone the way I expected it to. Throughout the competition, I mainly assumed that we all were going to go through the same struggle trying to catch up with school, and the stress we faced couldn’t be avoided. However, I was starting to realize that I might’ve just dug myself this hole.

Well, no use feeling bad for myself. I thought aloud. No matter who’s fault it was or what caused this, my missing assignments weren’t going anywhere. As I began my three day old math homework, I reminisced about how my life would be going if I’d just done it in the hotel room.

Previous
Previous

2023: Year In Review

Next
Next

How to Mentally Prepare for a Competition