Notes From the Field: Week in the Life

 

Erin Matson is a Tar Heel, world-class athlete, team player and champion. Here, in “Notes From the Field,” she’ll be sharing some of her thoughts in an ongoing series set to cover anything and everything on her mind. You can find the full series so far here, on Chapelboro.

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A lot of people always ask what it’s like to be a Division I athlete.

How many hours do you spend working out? Do you have classes in the morning or in the afternoon? Do you have time to … breathe??

The truth is, everyone’s days are different. That’s the beauty of college, right? Making your own schedule – to an extent – and having your personal routine, commitments, and ways of getting stuff done while also rewarding yourself with time to chill.

However, it’s no joke when people say being a collegiate athlete is its own job. You’re blocking off at least 40 hours a week, and that’s before anything extra you want to work on. Good luck being great if you’re not working overtime. 

Except it’s one of the best things to ever happen to me! I could ramble on and on about alllll of the reasons why I love being a collegiate athlete. Especially a collegiate athlete at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. But I’m honestly not in the mood to write a 10-page paper at the moment. I’ve done enough of that over the years, and even that wouldn’t do it justice.

Instead, I’ll give you guys a glimpse into what this past week looked like for me. Deal?

No fluff, no exaggeration, no embellishing, and no downplaying. Let’s get real.

Monday

Mondays are our off-days, which is honestly amazing coming off of a weekend of games. It allows us to get our life situated, catch up on everything – including sleep, and head into the week ready to roll. For me, Mondays consist of spending all day at the office. Instead of taking classes this semester, I’m interning on the Marketing Team at Personify, a recruitment process outsourcing firm in Raleigh, NC. I am LOVING it, applying what I’ve learned over my years at UNC, and working with some really awesome people.

• 8:00am: Leave for work and, of course, stop at Starbucks on the way
• 9:00am – 3:30pm: Personify
• 4:15pm: Interview at the Media & Communications Center (MCC) back at UNC
• 5:45 – 6:45pm: Yoga class (I bought a membership at CorePower for this semester, and I’m hooked!)
• 7:15pm – : Eat dinner, hang out with my housemates, call my boyfriend, and get ready for bed

Tuesday

Tuesdays are our longgg days. Back to reality! But they’re also really rewarding. At the end of the day on Tuesday, yeah we’re exhausted, but hey … we just did that!

• 9:00 – 9:30am: Wake up, get ready for the day, log on to see if anyone from work needs anything, and complete some tasks
• 11:00am – 12:00pm: Dermatology appointment
• 1:00 – 1:30pm: Film – debriefing the games over the weekend
• 1:30 – 2:00pm: Team sports psychology meeting
• 2:00 – 4:00pm: Practice
• 4:00 – 5:00pm: Team lift
• 5:30pm: Dining hall trip with our Freshies swiping us in because we have to get to the …
• 6:00 – 7:00pm: Student-Athlete Career Fair
• 7:00pm: Mapleview run with some close peeps – It’s an ice cream farm in the area, and I’ve somehow never been. Safe to say, I’ll be back!!
• 8:30pm – : Light a candle, log on to work to finish some tasks, and read (Who am I, and what happened to the movie/tv show-obsessed Erin?)

Wednesday

Did someone say, “Hump DaaAaaAAyYYyyY!”

• 8:00am: Leave for work and get … Starbs … you guessed it!
• 9:00 – 11:30am: Personify
• 1:00 – 1:30pm: Corner practice
• 1:30 -2:00pm: Film – preparing for upcoming games
• 2:00 – 4:00pm: Practice
• 4:15:30 – 5:15pm: Some alone time on the field to get some extra work in
• 5:30 – 6:30pm:(Something exciting I can’t share with you yet … Oops!)
• 6:30 – 7:15pm: Food shopping – Whole Foods, I love you.
• 7:30 – 9:15pm: Head to my friend’s house nearby to relax, catch up, and get some work done. (We actually ended up watching “Just Go With It” BUT I did get my work done 😉
• 9:30pm – : Started “Dopesick,” a docuseries on Hulu before bedtime. The movie/tv show Erin wasn’t gone for long!

Thursday

I think Thursday might be my favorite day of the week in-season.

• 9:30am – 12:30pm: Catch up on personal emails and plan my graduation photoshoot – Eeek!
• 1:00 – 1:30pm: Head to Stallings for treatment and tape before practice
• 2:00 – 3:00pm: Light practice
• 3:00 – 3:45pm: Get some extra work in alone after practice
• 4:00 – 5:45pm: Float Tank Appointment in Carrboro – It’s a massive epsom salt bath container thingy that you float in for recovery – kind of like a fake Dead Sea. Let’s just say it was AWESOME! Definitely a cool experience, and I’ll be revisiting it.
• 6:00 – 8:00: Ahhh. A relaxing Thursday evening before a home game. There’s nothing quite like it.
• 8:00 – 10:00pm: Movie night! My housemates and I started the new Jeffery Dhamer docuseries on Netflix – shivers. So good, but creeeeepy.
• 10:30pm – : ‘Twas the night before gameday and all through the house …

Friday

Gameday. Gameday. Gameday!!! Finally, the party has arrived.

• 9:30 – 11:30am: Work on this blog, get some personal ONE/Erin stuff done, and then put it all away to focus on the game
• 12:30pm: Pregame meal
• 3:00pm: Report to KSS
• 4:00pm: Game vs. Wake Forest
• 6:00pm: The best post-game tailgate. Shoutout to our parents!!
• 7:00pm – : Wind down, spend some more time with the girls since that was our only game this weekend, and get ready for tomorrow!

Saturday

Saturdays are for the Heels.

• 10:30am – 1:00pm: Team brunch at KSS & UNCFH Career Symposium
• 1:30 – 3:00pm: Get ready for the UNC vs. Notre Dame football game and meet my parents and family friends for tailgating
• 3:30 – 6:30pm: Cheer on the Heels, meet up with some pretty awesome people to watch the game, and meet other cool people while watching
• 6:30pm – Enjoy a “normal” Saturday in Chapel Thrill … Let’s leave it at that 😉

Sunday

Since we don’t play until next Sunday, we actually have today off! This isn’t normal peeps. But we aren’t complaining! It does mean we’ll have practice Monday which is unusual, but the coaches know what is best for us heading into our next game.

• 9:30 – 11:30am: Carolina Brewery for brunch with my parents before they head home – YUM
• 11:45am – 12:45pm: Log on to work and organize my personal life before another week begins
• 1:30pm: Pick up my boyfriend from the airport!!!! It’s been 2 months too long.
• 1:45 – 3:30pm: Grab lunch, hang out, and go food shopping (any other girlfriends out there relate when I say I wish I could keep up with how much the boys can eat **eye roll**)
• 4:00pm – Enjoy the “normalcy” of having a true off-day … it’s been a while!

Everyone’s busy. Everyone has their own crazy life with their own responsibilities and commitments. And this week honestly wasn’t even one of the crazy ones for me. But I’m lucky each one is filled with doing things I love surrounded by people I love.

Being a student-athlete is a blessing, and I wouldn’t change anything for the world. So there you have it! That’s me and my week.

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