Freshman swimmer adjusts to college life

By Matthew Murai, Josh Benton, Mike Save and Tahira Firdous

Freshman student athlete Amanda McTeague is part of the University of Hawaii at Manoa swim team and is transitioning to college life. A full day of practice and school is not out of the ordinary for her. But waking up at 5:20 am is not how all college students start their day, and making the necessary adjustments to freshman college life and sports can be challenging.

Being a swimmer has helped McTeague make new friends at school and not feel alone on the UH campus. She said, "living with new people and swimming with a new team and new coache can be hard, but I think its been really fun so far." Living without parental support can often lead to students getting homesick.

Something in particular sets her apart from other freshman nonstudent athletes: she can't get a job because of her atheletic scholarship. With her jam packed schedule she can't work.

She said, " My daily routine is that i wake up at about 5:20, and then I come down to the pool for swim practice, and then I go eat breakfast. Then go to my classes, then I come back to the pool for another practice, and then eat dinner and go to study hall, and back to bed.'

Transitioning from high school to college has been in the back of McTeagues mind, and living on her own has challenged this freshman athlete.