Being an athlete is hard work, being a student athlete is a whole different story. Ariana Sirabia, a junior at South El Monte High School, has been a student athlete her entire high school career. Ariana has played mainly volleyball and soccer, but this year she picked up on playing a new sport, track and field.

           Sports really benefits mental health by pushing your limits whether you are finishing the hardest race of your life, or maybe playing against that rival team, sports will push your limits. Ariana has been through some tough matches and races, and she has always been able to see the sunny side. Ariana expressed, “The toughest life lesson I had to learn from sports was self discipline, and having to visualize my own outcome in a positive way.”  Sports take serious commitment and can sometimes cause you to fall behind in school Ariana stated, “These sports have changed the way I live both positively and negatively because due to the commitment I put into these sports, I end up forgetting about my education and end up struggling to keep up with everything, but besides that it helps me stay in shape. ” Good time management is important, even after a hard day’s work, Ariana still doesn’t let her fatigue get to her. She said, “Having to be a student athlete, I have to be able to control my energy and not let it affect me, and to maintain this I have a schedule that helps me function throughout the day.”

          Ariana this year ran track for her first time. Track is a difficult sport in general and requires hard work and discipline. She came in a bit for off-season late march and ended up participating in the 100m hurdles, 300m hurdles, Long jump, and 100m dash. Sometimes you might get some event you don’t like, Ariana stated, “My favorite event was 300 hurdles because I knew I would get far with it, and it helped me a lot with my stamina which was my goal. My least favorite was the long jump because I was unable to understand the movements needed.” Ariana kept progressing and hitting new personal records, as the end of the season came, she qualified for Mission Valley League Preliminaries track meet in 300m and 100m hurdles, and long jump. She then placed in the top 9 against the whole Mission Valley League to qualify for the League Finals track meet. To qualify to go to the CIF track meet, you have to place top 3 in your event. The outstanding athlete Ariana is, she qualified for the CIF track meet where then her season ended strongly. 

          Playing a sport needs a significant amount of motivation. Motivation can come in from lots of different reasons, whether someone has pushed you or there is a specific goal to reach. Ariana’s motivation has come from herself. Ariana stated “My motivation to keep me going even when it was tough was myself. I never really looked up to no one when it came to pushing through things, I just had to remind myself that all this will benefit me for the future whether it was for my health or for other sports.” Having motivation from others is really encouraging, but when you are a self motivated person and don’t look up to anyone, that is a tough and strong mindset.

         Having the privilege of participating in high school sports is great for relieving stress, competing against rivals, and pushing your limits physically and mentally. Ariana has made it clear that being a student athlete isn’t only tough but really relieving as she stated, “I love these sports because they help me release all my stress and help me forget about my worries. I’m able to let everything out while I’m playing but also, my teammates never fail to make me laugh. “