Profile
It’s a quarter to six in the morning. The sun hasn’t come up yet. Most UMD students are still in bed, but Meghan Roth is running sprints and lifting weights.
Meghan Roth, a freshman at UMD, is the sweeper for UMD’s varsity girl’s soccer team. She is one of the hundreds of students who struggle with maintaining a balance between sports and academics.
Roth has to wake up at 5:45 in the morning three days a week, and has practice in the afternoon the other two days of the week.
“All I wanna do is sleep all day after practice, but I know that I have to go to class,� Roth says.
Roth says that she would probably go to class more if she wasn’t so worn out all the time. She misses class at least once a week, if not more than that.
“I always try to at least make it to class, but sometimes the lack of energy takes over me,� says Roth’s teammate Stacey Prodaniuk, “It would be nice to go out more on the week days, but 5:45 rolls around pretty fast.�
Roth says that besides waking up early for soccer, there are many positive aspects of being on the team.
“Soccer is my top reason for coming here,� Roth says, “And I’m getting my entire tuition paid for.�
Roth has struggled with maintaining her grades in high school, and she believes that being in soccer has helped improve them.
“It motivates me to keep my GPA up so that I can play soccer,� Roth says, “I believe that soccer gives me a lot of opportunities to succeed.�
The love of the game is what keeps Roth sane through strenuous exercises, early morning practices, and time commitment.
“All I know about soccer is that I love it. L-O-V-E it,� says Roth with a smile.