Student Spotlight: Reggie Brewster '21

Managing Sports Editor Henry Newton ’21 sat down with Reggie Brewster ’21 (above right), member of the Men’s squash team, to talk about the difficulties of balancing a busy schedule as both a student and athlete.

Q: Generally, how do you balance being an athlete and a student?

A:It’s a lot of time management. I found that finding the little times in the day where you can get even a little bit of reading done add up. Finding opportunities to be productive whenever you can is crucial.

Q: Do you think that the Athletics Department adequately provides resources to help student athletes manage their time?

A: I personally don’t know all of the resources they provide, but in my experience, my coaches have been very understanding to both me and my teammates.

Q: In what contexts?

A: I think I am the only pre-med student on my team, and my exams are in the evening, which conflicts with the end of practice. My coaches, however, understand that even if practice ends at 7 p.m. and the exam is at 7 p.m., I need to leave early to grab some food and get settled in and get ready. In that way, academics always comes first, and they [my coaches] want to be flexible.

Q: Do you think you are treated differently in academic contexts because you are an athlete?

A: In my experience, I haven’t really felt that. There was one time last year, when I tried to get into a different lab time than the one I was assigned, because it conflicted with practice. The professor, due to class sizes or logistics or something, didn’t let me switch, but fortunately my coaches accommodated my schedule, and I had an extra early morning practice on those lab days. It wasn’t because I was a student athlete, however. I don’t think I get treated any differently.

Q: It is hard to be pre-med and a student athlete?

A: In short, not more difficult than it is to be any of those things independently. Being a student athlete is tough. Being pre-med is a large workload. There is no inherent conflict, however, in my experience.