Brianna Campbell / Collegian File Photo
Freshman talk about the major adjustments to being a student-athlete and away from home.
Whether it is the dreaded freshman 15, suddenly having to buy textbooks or being cramped in a cluttered dorm miles away from home, being a freshman college student has its turmoil.
But for the more than 120 Fresno State freshman student-athletes, dorm life and textbooks are just a small portion of hectic everyday life.
Gone are the days in high school where practice lasted two hours at the most and a home-cooked meal was waiting on the table. In comes year-round training, two practices a day and a steady dose of dining hall food or macaroni and cheese.
“What do I miss about home? The cooking, definitely,” diver Stacey Luke said. “I guess being able to see my parents everyday and talking to them. Just having a place to get away, because you’re constantly around people all the time, and when you’re home you have a little more of your own space.”
Luke, who is originally from Kenmore, Wash., closed her inaugural campaign as one of the most successful freshman athletes competing for Fresno State in 2009-10. In her first season, nearly 1,000 miles away from home, Luke rewrote the record books by being the first diver to compete in the NCAA diving zones.
Despite Luke’s stellar season, the transition from high school to college preparation and competition has taken some getting used to for the 19-year-old mass communication and journalism major.
“I know it’s a big switch from high school,” Luke said. “You have a lot more homework and definitely a lot more practice time. I’ve practiced twice a day before, but not nearly as intensely, and I’ve never had a practice in the morning, so that was definitely hard to adjust to.”
Likewise, Baseball player Justin Charles has felt the effects of being away from his home in Galt, Calif., to be a key player in head coach Mike Batesole’s 2010 freshman class.
“At school, I’m cooking my own meals and making sure laundry gets done,” Charles said. “I probably miss the home cooked meals from mom the most. It was a big jump for me and I feel I’ve grown and matured as a person.”
Charles has appeared in 27 of Fresno State’s 39 games this season, batting .308 in his first season in a Bulldog uniform. Although home is only two-and-a-half hours away, Charles is still settling into apartment life while balancing school and helping Fresno State chase its fourth straight Western Athletic Conference title.
“I was expecting a different lifestyle,” Charles said. “Just knowing that I was going to have to get my studies done as well as performing on the field at the same time. Make sure I balance my time and get my things done. I was trying to come prepared and please everyone.”
While practice, game and meet schedules have erased a lot of Luke and Charles’ free time, both have managed to find time to return to their respective hometowns and reacquaint themselves with the life that once was.
“I’ve been home maybe four times this whole year,” Charles said. “It was good getting home and seeing my family and catching up with them, other than being on the phone. It’s just much different when you go home now. You have people asking how the season is going and acting different toward you.”