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Senior St. Edward’s University women’s soccer defender Katie Donahue was recently named Heartland Conference Defensive Player of the Week for her strong performance that helped the team win against Oklahoma Christian University on Oct. 1. As a marketing major, who is getting ready to graduate, balancing school, work and athletic duties are not an easy task.

Below is what Donahue’s Monday schedule typically looks like:

Having three Tuesday and Thursday classes levels out her busy Monday and Wednesday schedule giving her room to work at Merrill Lynch, but the homework load still remains the same. 

Donahue mentions that her professors work with her busy schedule and are understanding for student-athletes. She tries to stay organized with her planner and does work ahead of time, but sometimes things can get out of hand.

“It does get pretty stressful and sometimes I just have to accept that and just know eventually I’ll get everything done,” Donahue said.

Because sports teams travel often throughout the year, student-athletes like Donahue learn to prioritize and adapt their practice schedules, tournaments and out-of-state games.

Teams  designate a study time  while on these trips, which seem to be helpful for Donahue. Still, having to play away games throughout the week can be especially stressful.

“Traveling from Wednesday to Sunday is the worst because we miss half the week. You have to really stay on top of your school work which can be difficult when you’re missing so many classes,” Donahue said.

The team played in Kansas on Saturday and here’s what the schedule looked like: