Galloping Your Way through High School
Media provided by Evelyn Szczepanek
Ever tried to juggle academics and athletics? Well, here’s how student equestrians find balance while competing in and out of New York.
During the winter months, many competitive equestrians, such as myself, go to Wellington, Florida, to compete at an international horse show called the Winter Equestrian Festival. The event, also known as WEF, lasts for thirteen weeks: from January through March. Some athletes travel back and forth for horse shows, and others move down to Wellington for the winter circuit, so navigating school can become a challenge for many equestrians.
Georgia S., a 15-year-old who attends The Chapin School in New York City, commutes to Florida weekly, meaning she misses most Fridays throughout the three months she is in Florida.
It is challenging for her to find time to complete all her homework on weekends, especially when she has competitions, and on top of that, she often misses classes, lectures, and notes.
“I love being able to compete, but I realized that I would have to work extra hard to keep my grades at the same level,” Georgia said.
She learned that it takes a lot of organization and planning to be able to travel each week while still completing all of her school work. In order to maintain a steady GPA, she has discovered that the best way for her to stay on top of her work is to complete it all in advance over her breaks.
One benefit of flying down weekly is that Georgia can see both her friends from New York and her friends who live in Florida.
Unlike Georgia, Scarlett S., a freshman at Spence in New York City, does not commute back and forth during the winter months. Scarlett stays in Wellington all winter long and attends Upper Echelon Academy: a remote learning school that many equestrians attend while spending their time traveling to horse shows.
Scarlett spends the first four to five hours of her day practicing for the horse shows, and then during the afternoon, she goes to UEA, which accommodates her required schooling hours. Like Georgia, she finds that the biggest challenge is keeping up with all of her classwork and homework from her New York School. Because Scarlett is not in class, she needs to keep in touch with her friends and teachers to make sure she gets all the material that she needs to succeed. Due to her time in Florida, Scarlett has learned that she needs to be self-motivated to manage her academic work, social life, and riding.
My last interview was with Scarlett L., who is in 10th grade in New York City. Like Georgia, she travels back and forth to Wellington most weekends. She usually flies to Florida on Wednesday nights, which means she misses Thursdays and Fridays of school each week.
Scarlett attempts to get the majority of her work done from Monday through Wednesday so that when she is in Wellington, she can focus on her riding.
“I need to work on my time management skills,” she said. “Although I have improved since last year, I still have things to work on.”
She also mentioned that these skills can apply to both academics and riding. Being a student athlete, Scarlett L has learned to “persevere through difficult situations.” She described the experience as challenging and time-consuming, but rewarding. Finding a good balance between riding and school work is not easy, but she believes it has made her a better student and a better athlete.
Throughout my time as a student-equestrian, I have both commuted back and forth and also stayed down in Florida for multiple weeks, so I can relate to each experience. Overall, my biggest challenge in managing school and riding is learning how to be more organized.
Being a competitive athlete at this level is similar to being a successful student. In riding, I must practice often, just like doing homework for school. I study by watching other riders, just like I study for a test. When I compete, it’s like taking a test. Being a student-equestrian has forced me to become more organized during the winter months. This experience, competing at WEF, has made me a more successful student and competitor.
Addison Litman ‘27, the author, is a staff writer for The Grace Gazette.