Florida Atlantic University Athletics
A Day in the Life
9/25/2015 12:00:00 AM | Spirit
Written by Marisa Paglino
From 6 a.m. wakeup calls to midnight water breaks at practices, the life of an FAU spirit member is nothing that meets the eye. Whether it's at various sporting events, promotions for the upcoming week, or smiling and taking pictures with FAU fans, the FAU spirit teams can arguably be considered one of the faces of our university. They are expected to represent something much bigger than themselves, while having to worry about the everyday things a typical college student goes through. While the student body gets a small glimpse of what goes into being an FAU spirit member, it actually takes relentless hard work. Anyone who has been a college student, knows how challenging it can be. Between stressing out about your next meal and trying to keep your G.P.A. above a 2.0, it all adds on to the responsibilities of being a student-athlete, which doesn't come easy. For FAU Spirit, not only do these athletes have practices, workouts, and games; they also have appearances, competition, and additional practices when deemed necessary. Trying to juggle school, sometimes work, and cheer or dance takes a huge amount of self-discipline and time management. I was able to sit down with four girls who are currently on the FAU cheer and dance teams and they gave me some insight into how much really goes into their program.
Marisa Paglino: What are your majors?
Morgan Heartsfield: Communications
Alexis Cilona: Elementary Education
Amanda Johnson: Exercise Science
AJ Pertuz: I'm dual majoring in Marketing and Hospitality
Marisa: What is a typical day for you on a day that you would have a night practice?
Amanda: Well, Tuesdays and Thursdays are my busiest days because I have classes, practice and workouts. But Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I have to try to shove all of my homework, assignments, and labs into my schedule. I also work almost every day of the week to earn money to eat and drive everywhere like from school, to work, and to my apartment because I live off campus. I work really far down south and I have two different jobs. It's quite hectic.
Morgan: I think that my busiest days are probably every day of the week. I work full time and I pay all of my own bills including my rent and my school. Along with that, I have workouts just like everyone else and I have dance about five hours a day. I have class every day of the week as well.
Marisa: Since all of you have spent one or more full years on FAU spirit, if you could describe a characteristic you have gained, what would it be? Aj: Responsibility. You have to make sure you're on time for everything, you have to be on time for practices, events and promos. You have to make sure you're wearing the right things or else you won't be able to participate in whatever we're doing. So, if it's a game and you have the wrong shirt or if you're not on time, the chances of you being benched are very high. There's a lot of consequences so, you have to make sure you are responsible, you keep track of time, and keep track of your skills. If you don't keep up with your skills as well, the chances of you not being able to perform are also very high.
Alexis: My word would be perseverance. My freshman year was very difficult for me because I am an out of state student. 15 days after my high school graduation, I had to pack up, leave home, and move to FAU to be at the first FAU dance practice. It was a very hard adjustment. I am very thankful that I made amazing friends and have I stuck through it for now - my third year. I love being here and I love all my friends.
Morgan: This is going to sound really cheesy, but the word I would pick would be brave. For every dance that we do, we have to get up in front of all of our teammates and our coaches at practice and preform the routine that we learned. We could literally learn it that day and have to audition it that night and we could not be in a performance if we mess up. We also have to perform in front of so many people every game. Since competition is only two minutes on the mat, if you mess that up then everything you worked for is gone. It takes bravery to get up in front of people like that and it can be scary at times.
Amanda: Leadership. It's definitely taught me to be able to help my new teammates to push them through what I went through too, because I have learned through experience. I went through the same thing they're going through and I learned what to do and what not to do. I can help them through whatever they're going through and I can be there for them. Another word would be independence. I have learned to get all my stuff together. I start the day off early by leaving my apartment and don't get back home till late at night. I have to leave with everything for school, work, and cheer that day.
Marisa: Since you don't get scholarship for being on spirit and you're not getting paid to do it, why do you do it?
Amanda: The experience and putting our university out there as a team all together makes it all worth it.
Morgan: It gives me something to work for. The feeling you get at the end of the year when you know you've made it through and entire year is the greatest feeling. Not a lot of people can do all the stuff we have to do. We have to be at every athletic event, plus our own, plus our own practices; the stuff we do is impossible and to know that we made it through and entire year and succeeded is rewarding.
Alexis: Even being able to experience wins for other teams. Like when football wins a game, not every person gets to stand on the sideline and cheer on their schools team and have the feeling of 30,000 people in front of you with a smile on your face. Not everyone gets to experience that feeling.
AJ: You meet some cool people too. You get to meet people who have the same schedule as you do. For example, you can't go home one weekend or you can't go out with your friends because you have a schedule that doesn't allow you to have as much free time as other people. You get to meet people who have the same schedule as you and they understand that.
Marisa: Is there anything else you would like to add?
Morgan: I think that overall, we are underestimated as athletes. The amount of stuff that we go through is just as much if not more than other athletes at this school. We have to be at the same amount of workouts if not more, we have to be at all these promos to promote everyone else's athletic stuff, we have to be at all their athletic events, plus our own five hour practices. A lot of people under estimate our abilities and everything that we do.
Alexis: it's so hard to explain to other people how dance is a sport because you don't know until you're experiencing it. People say "I can do what you do". Ok - go to one of our practices and see what we go through. People think that it's so easy for us, but we are as much of a sport as anyone else.
These athletes are here doing what they love simply because of their passion for the sport. They receive no scholarships or excessive amounts of money to bring them in to the program. These girls and boys are here simply because of their love for their school and for their sport. Personally, the most passionate people I have ever come in contact with have been the members of FAU Spirit. This is simply because of their hard work and dedication to the things that sometimes go unnoticed. Even though these hard working athletes can be over shadowed by the other "bigger name" sports at FAU, they are just as hard working as the rest of the student athlete population. The amount of time, work, and effort that goes into being a member of FAU spirit is something that cannot be totally put into words, but it can be seen in the way this program shapes the athletes that are in it.
Players Mentioned
