A Balancing Act for Students-Athlete

Priority, priority, priority. This is the most important factor in having a balanced Student-Athlete life. Actually every person must able to identify the (I) URGENT and IMPORTANT, (II) NOT URGENT but IMPORTANT, (III) URGENT but NOT IMPORTANT, and (IV) NOT URGENT and NOT IMPORTANT. They said it varies because it depends on where one person is coming from or what his/her values are.

Assignments, homework, school projects must be done immediately even if it is still for next week or for the next next day. Things that are not urgent but are important must be accomplished just before it becomes ASAP. You can able to finished it without cramming and no pressures.

Should I join tournaments which may affect may studies? Well, it depends... YES, if it is IMPORTANT, if it is a national qualifying event; but NO if will just do it for money and exposure(?). Chess skill does not follow as to the relativity of exposures a player had. Some players showed a decline in performance when they already got much much exposure, playing chess before they could even read books. Because chess is like a subject in school, we continuously study and prepare for exams in the form of tournaments.

And when there is the opportunity to have some fun, grab it! And last week been a happy weekend. We had no training last Saturday, we just stayed at home and we watched 'Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen' at SM Manila last Sunday. I could still hear Optimus Prime`s famous line... "Autobots -- Transform and Roll out!"

"All works and no play make Jack a dull boy"... by Jack Torrance