“Day in the life” or “DITL” of an influencer is a popular social media trend that captures how your favorite creators spend their day. Influencers make vlogs showing segments of their day with time stamps and uplifting audio. For athletes at ETHS, game and meet days can be challenging, but having a good routine can help relieve some of the pressure. Juniors Gemma Pollard (gymnastics), Hunter Kleinschmit (swimming), and sophomore Ben Ojala (basketball) prioritize a good meal and sleep to start off their competition days.
Ojala started his game day off with 12 hours of sleep and a breakfast of eggs, sausage, and hashbrowns in preparation for his Saturday game against Warren High School. Pollard started her day at 6:50 am with 7 hours and 50 minutes of sleep and ate a bagel with cream cheese to get ready for her conference meet later that day.
“I slept for 9 hours, and my first meal was 3 eggs with half an avocado,” said Kleinschmit on a Friday morning before a meet against New Trier.
After breakfast, they make sure their lunch, physical, and mental prep keep them ready and fueled for competition. Having a good mindset is a crucial part of success, given that one of the hardest parts of a sport is the mental side of it.
Around 2:00 pm, Ojala had a strawberry-banana smoothie before game time and headed over to the court to get some extra shooting in before scouting reports.
“I knew there was gonna be a lot of media and that I was going to be playing against a top-ranked team and sophomore, (Brady Pettigrew). I definitely wanted to show I belong in that top group of sophomores, but I focused on not trying to perform perfectly and letting the game come to me,” stated Ojala.
For lunch, Pollard went out to Lou Malnati’s and had a house salad while enjoying a meal with her friends to get herself in a good headspace for the meet. On the way there, Pollard and her team blasted Kesha on the bus to get them hyped up. The team stretched on the mat together and warmed up their skills for 10 minutes.
“Before my routines, I visualize all my skills in my head and take deep breaths,” explains Pollard.
Kleinschmit’s lunch consisted of a turkey sandwich, a slice of pizza, and many more snacks. Before meets and races, he likes to envision his swims and do some full-body stretches. He prioritized having fun and beating his friends at New Trier.
After competing, the three athletes reflect and focus on recovery. Dwelling on a tough loss is easy, but being able to reflect and grow from your losses is a bit more difficult.
Even after a big loss, Ojala focused on the takeaways. He accepted that they were missing part of their team and used that as motivation to bounce back. With lingering injuries throughout the week, Ojala iced his body, focused on full-body stretching, and finished off the night with Chick-fil-A.
Pollard’s meet went well, with only one fall of the beam and an overall success of the routine. The team finished their meet by stretching with each other to recover. The bus ride home was a chill ride, and she ended the night by getting Chipotle with some of the team.
“The meet went well despite losing overall. I won both of my individual events, and overall, it was a fun meet. I ended my night off with some full-body stretches and ate some pizza,”- remarked Kleinschmit.
These athletes’ days and nights are full, packed with homework and games. A day in the life of a normal student isn’t an easy feat on its own, but when it’s combined with the pressures of being an athlete and having to balance sports and school, it becomes even harder.
