While this post doesn’t deal much with sports or rowing in general, I thought I would share some personal struggles and insights I experienced.

This week was one for the history books, with some very important lessons learned. Since my last posting on the Sept. 17, I have been on a retreat, gotten a leadership position on an athlete’s ministry team, become part of the St. Luke’s choir, attended Praise and Worship sessions, taken four huge tests and quizzes, gone to every morning and afternoon practice possible, beaten my fastest time on the run around Findley Lake, cleaned my apartment, dealt with two mice in the apartment, and had my family up for parent’s weekend. Needless to say, life has been completely hectic.

However, what is not mentioned in there is the amount of stress I put on myself during all of that by pushing back my homework in order to get caught up on the fourth season of "Grey’s Anatomy" before the 2-hour season premier this past Thursday, the pushing back part successfully putting me behind in most of my readings and having serious consequences: Not fully preparing for my Sociology exam, Statistics test, or World Religions test, and eliminating most of my free time Sunday to play catch up.

I complained about how much I had to do all week and mentally kicked myself every day I chose a television show over preparing for my classes, yet I continued to do the same thing day after day. I never changed my behavior or my attitude.

As I look back on what happened over the last two weeks, I feel rather foolish for acting in such a way that denied me the opportunity to take a more active role in classes as well as to focus completely on practices. Instead, I was attempting to guess at what was being discussed or wondering if I would have time to finish reading before class. I have learned that I have a weakness when it comes to "Grey’s Anatomy" and I have to work on motivating myself to making a schedule and sticking to it. I’ve also learned that I make time for what I think is important in my life. Unfortunately, this time it was television over school work and my emotional health. I need to re-prioritize, take a deep breath, step back from life, and consider what I want my future to look like. Only then can I get back on track and accomplish my goals. I hope I’ve learned my lesson fully, though, because I’m sitting in my room with clothes all over and wondering if I’ll take the time to put them away ...