Balancing sports and school is possibly the most stressful thing for a student-athlete. Sports asks a lot out of individuals, from waking up early to staying up late for games and practices, having to perform well in games and tournaments, and most excruciatingly: homework once you get back home. For Zachary Zheng (12), the outcome of his hard work and dedication to his athletics and sports came with unforeseen accomplishments and an excellent look on his applications.
Many associate being a “student-athlete” with a student at a high school or college whilst participating in a sport within or outside of school. Yet, being a successful student with good grades and a solid GPA, whilst holding the athlete title, is tough to accomplish. For Zheng, being a member of Ayala’s Boys Football all four years of his high school career, finding the time to balance and excel in both, proved to be easy for him. Though his smart traits definitely played into his academic success, it was his ability to understand what he needed to do and just how to do it.
“I prioritize the time that I need to. When we have practice, I set my mind on practice, and I do the best of my ability during that practice. When practice is over, I get my work done, focus in class when I’m in class, do my homework when I’m at home,” said Zheng. His diligent planning, coupled with his dedication to doing his work, makes him the best example of any student athlete.
In sports, there are typically awards that go out to outstanding players in that particular league, for their performances on and off of the field. With his grades and GPA being rather above average for a “football player,” as he takes his fair share of AP and honors classes, it was a no-brainer that he would be qualified to receive the Academic Award for the Palomares League his junior year. Although his hard work and dedication to both football and his schooling was rightfully recognized, it was never his intent of trying to win an award, nonetheless a league award.
“I’d say that me continuing to play football and continuing to meet my academic goals, with rigorous classes, independently converge into this league award,” Zheng said.
With Zheng dedicating himself to AP classes, mainly to accomplish his goal of studying and becoming an Aerospace Engineer, it had been tedious and stressful to balance sports and a rather difficult major. Being a senior now, he is faced with the biggest challenge of his academic career, college applications. Of course, those who have filled out college applications, know the meticulous and time-consuming process each application takes and just how much it takes out of you. For Zheng, the process was tedious but also overjoying, as he finally applied to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a dream school of his. Though the process of applying to an exceptional school like MIT is more than the average college application, Zheng still found time to dedicate himself to the process whilst also enjoying his last couple months of football with his friends.
“I feel like I’ve been more focused on my sports and just enjoying my last year than really doing my applications. I still do my applications and I’m still working on it, but this is what I signed up for from the beginning and it did help me manage my time with sports, applications, and my own free time,” Zheng said.
In the end, as much as Zheng may seem like a true academic weapon, he is a normal person who enjoys time to himself and with his friends outside of school. Of course outside of school he still ventures into the fields of his studies, finding the fun in everything he does, but even a true student-athlete enjoys the time off they get, especially after going through the stressful couple months of being a senior.
“I see myself chilling and rejoicing in a period of lesser responsibilities and pressures and taking some time, the rest of the high school probably, to just relax and enjoy the last few months before going off to another journey.”
People like Zachary Zheng can come and go, from an academic standpoint or an athletic standpoint, but what he has brought for himself and Ayala will never be changed. Whether he goes far into his future, or if he takes a different route, the lessons and characteristics Zheng has built in his time as a star student-athlete will surely see him becoming successful.
