Upon entering college, I felt really anxious about balancing my school work with a time-intensive club. Even in high school, I remember one of my biggest issues was balancing academics with sports.

I started playing Ultimate Frisbee since high school. Ultimate Frisbee, or “Ultimate” as we call it, was and still remains a prevalent part of my life.

At Northwestern, there are about 615 active student organizations and counting, with varying objectives and amount of involvement. Of those student organizations, about 34 are club sports. With 1,200 annual participants, club sports is an extremely popular choice for many students to stay active and be involved in a community.

When I entered Northwestern, it was a no-brainer to sign up for Ultimate. Joining the Men’s Northwestern Ultimate Team, or NUT, proved to be one of the best decisions I ever made. After countless hours of practicing at the Lakeside Field by the gorgeous view of Chicago and Lake Michigan, the Ultimate community soon became like family to me. I made so many life-long friends and connections with this program, and it’s given me so much fulfillment in terms of bettering myself as a player (we made Nationals my freshman year!).

I initially struggled with balancing my extracurriculars and academics during Fall Quarter of my first year – a conflict which, I think, most students at Northwestern encounter since there’s so much to do  on-campus. As a Radio-TV-Film student, I was working on film sets every weekend – the same time that tournaments were. I also was studying Economics and Computer Science; it was oftentimes difficult to finish my homework while also attending the two or three weekly practices.

Nonetheless, after Fall Quarter, I started finding different strategies that worked for me. I received a ton of advice and tips from upperclassmen who had gone through this process. Through these talks, I learned that students organizations recognize that academics are the main priority for students. Since organizations know that their members are busy full-time students that can’t make every meeting, most groups therefore value transparency above all else. As a result, I have learned how to be honest about my availability with my Ultimate commitments, and commit to open communication between me and my captains.

Overall, joining Ultimate has been one of the best decisions I’ve made here at Northwestern. Additionally, although I played Ultimate, I still found time to do other things, like hanging out with my friends, or completing a short film. This upcoming school year, I’ll be joining the Women’s Ultimate Team “Gung Ho” (which I’m really excited about!). 

Although balancing school work and extracurriculars can be difficult at Northwestern, I truly believe that, if you love what you’re doing enough, then, with hard work and planning, you can make it work.