By the time the final bell rings at Sharon High School, the day is far from over for student athletes. The stress of school follows them everywhere: onto buses, into locker rooms, and through long nights of homework and cramming for tests.
Balancing academics and extracurriculars has become an increasingly common challenge. Student athletes often say “Sharon culture” is incredibly rigorous, pushing them to excel both in the classroom and in after school activities. The pressure to push beyond their limits and succeed in every space can quickly become overwhelming.
Much of that stress comes from the accelerated pace of advanced classes. Counselor Marybeth Shinney pointed out that students sometimes underestimate how demanding Advanced Placement classes can be. “AP-level coursework is the real deal,” she explained. “It’s college-level work.”
In her experience, students experience emotional effects before academic ones. “When students get overwhelmed, we see lack of sleep, withdrawal, and sometimes they just shut down because they don’t know where to begin,” Shinney explained. For some, the pressure is fueled by perfectionism. “If students think they have to be perfect and get all A’s, especially in AP classes, they hit a wall,” she said.
Sharon High administrators are aware of these realities. Athletic Director Michael Vitelli was clear about the school’s philosophy: “They are student athletes, not athletic students. Academics always come first.”
For junior Mason Silverman, a baseball player who also manages a heavy academic workload, the struggle to balance the two is at the forefront of his mind every day.
“Right after the bell rings, I have to rush to the locker room to get ready,” Silverman said. “There is little time between school and competition.” Since Sharon’s school day ends later than many others in the Hockomock League, meeting with teachers after school is often impossible: “A lot of times I have to come in before school instead.”
As Ms. Shinney observed, student athletes have a routine that can make it difficult to get enough sleep. While academics and athletics may seem manageable on their own, they can become overwhelming when combined.
Silverman added that time is his biggest enemy. When school gets busy, even outside of the baseball season, he finds himself staying up late studying for tests. Silverman makes school his top priority and tries to hold himself to nine hours of sleep each night. But once practice, travel, and games are factored in, there’s not much space for anything else. “If I’m not at practice, I’m doing homework, studying, or sleeping,” he said. “It’s pretty much a nonstop cycle.”
Nevertheless, the number one rule at Sharon High is that academics always come first. Mr. Vitelli stated that he would “never want a student to choose athletics over academics if it’s going to hurt them.”
At the same time, the “Sharon culture” stems from the mentality of its own students. “Some of our students put a lot of pressure on themselves,” Mr. Vitelli said, “sometimes more than their teachers or parents do.”