The life of a student-athlete can be hectic and tough to manage, but athletes who are also graduate students often face some extra time management challenges.
San Jose State’s football team currently has five athletes that are graduate students and deal with sometimes needing to miss class due to the travel and game schedule.
“I’ve had to miss my Thursday class,” Deano Motes said, offensive lineman and business management graduate student. “There’s been a few Saturday classes for the MBA program that I’ve obviously had to miss, so making this schedule work is a little bit difficult.”
Thursday is a common travel day for the football team as they have played away games in Nevada, Colorado, Arkansas and New York so far this season.
There are two road games left this season, a game against Hawaii Nov. 9 and a tilt against the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Nov. 23.
Motes, however, has been able to handle his heavy workload, thanks in part to his professors.
“The professors are definitely a huge help, understanding that, I have the desire to get this quality education through the MBA programs and also participate in my athletics,” Motes said.
Offensive line coach Joe Bernardi said that he’s seen Motes work hard all season despite balancing his athletics, schooling and personal life.
“I’m sure that’s obviously tenuous, but he’s here every day, he doesn’t miss,” Bernardi said. “Him and his fiance are planning a wedding right now, so he’s got a lot on his plate, and he handles it really well.”
Motes proposed to his girlfriend Laike Reader at CEFCU Stadium in March after an intrasquad scrimmage and the pair are set to be married in January.
Quinn Oseland, fellow offensive lineman and public administration graduate student also has to miss the occasional class for game travel.
Oseland said that the best way to handle being a student-athlete is planning ahead.
“If you’re thinking about getting into a grad program, start looking into it a little bit earlier, because I never really thought about it until it came time for it,” Oseland said. “If you can see yourself down that path, just take a look at all the options you might have and things that you [might] potentially be
interested in.”
Oseland said that he isn’t quite sure of the career path he wants to go down after he finishes his graduate program, but he hopes to incorporate his current program with his undergraduate work as a marketing student.
While Oseland is still mulling his options, safety and education counseling graduate student Chandler Hawkins said that he hopes to help people in his hometown of Los Angeles.
“I want to be able to help kids in high school in the inner city of Los Angeles,” Hawkins said. “Just kind of help them get through struggles in hard times that they may have or may be going through.”
Hawkins said that the way he has dealt with balancing being a graduate student and an athlete is to divide his focus equally.
“You can’t just focus on one,” Hawkins said. “If you just focus on one, the work is going to eventually become overwhelming . . . and that’s when it’s going to be bad.”
Oseland, Hawkins and Motes all said that they hope to continue playing football beyond SJSU once their graduate programs have been completed. For Motes, he said that’s always been a dream and will continue to be his goal despite a more limited role on the team this season.
“Growing up as a kid, you see those guys [in the NFL] and you idolize them,” Motes said. “I’ve been more of a role player this year. It’s probably not likely that I’ll get a real good shot at the next level, but it’s always a dream.”
