Life outside of Rider varsity athletics

By Lauren Clay

It’s no secret that most Rider students find themselves juggling schoolwork with other activities, but sometimes the demands of being a Division I athlete can be overlooked.
Junior Alyssa Markovits, a member of the tennis team, feels that being an athlete at a Division I school has its ups and downs.
“I love my teammates and being able to play the sport that I love,” she said. “But being on a Division I team is very time-consuming. When we travel, it’s usually an all-day event.”
Markovits also pointed out that it can be difficult to get work done on the road, but that being on the team has forced her to improve her time-management skills.
Another downside to being a student athlete is missing class, but tennis Head Coach Ed Torres tries to accommodate the players to the best of his ability, and as long as there are extra people who are able to play, he allows players to miss matches if they feel they cannot take a chance to miss a particular class.
While her success in tennis is very important, Markovits always keeps academics in mind. As much as she loves tennis and competing at the collegiate level, her schoolwork always comes first.
“I spend about 10 hours per week in the library,” Markovits said. “The calm, quiet environment is helpful when I have a lot of work to do. The library is also a good place to go when I’m really annoyed or stressed out. For some reason the atmosphere calms me down.”
According to Markovits, the key to success as a student athlete is to be as organized as possible and try not to get stressed out.

“I make a to-do list everyday and stick to it as much as I can,” she said. “I also try to relax and take a step back from everything whenever I feel myself getting stressed.”
Although some athletic teams do not allow their members to be involved in Greek organizations, the tennis team is an exception.
Markovits has been a sister of Alpha Xi Delta since the spring semester of her freshman year.
“I’m happy that I have the opportunity to be in the sorority as well as the tennis team,” she said. “Being part of both these things has really made my college experience more fulfilling.”
Not only is she a member of the sorority, she is also the assistant financial vice president, which can be stressful at times, but because she is an accounting major, Markovits welcomes the challenge and experience. To add to her list of on-campus activities, she is also a dedicated member of Hillel.
Unlike many athletes at Rider, Markovits did not begin her college career as a member of an athletic team.
“I waited to join the team because I felt that Greek life and being an athlete would be too much at once,” Markovits said. “I didn’t want to get involved in too much too soon because I still wanted to allow myself to adjust to college life. Being a student athlete can be hectic sometimes, but joining the tennis team is definitely one of the best decisions I made at Rider.”