What is the right balance between sports and school? Where do kids draw the line? Do they draw it too late, when they’ve already dug themselves a deep hole or, do they draw the line too early and don’t find out how much they can handle? Either way sports are taking over our lives before we know it.

When applying to Williston kids are made aware that the school requires them to play three sports, one sport per season. There are alternatives for those who don’t play sports, including dance, art and children’s center. However not as many kids partake in those alternatives. Williston offers a range of sports varying from varsity horseback riding to varsity football to varsity crew. Each sport has at least two levels of play: varsity and junior varsity. While the more popular sports such as soccer and lacrosse have as many as thirds and fourths teams.

Sports are extremely popular at Williston. You will find much of the student body down at Sawyer field on Friday or Saturday nights in the fall cheering on their football, field hockey and soccer teams. Wednesdays and Saturdays are game days in the NEPSAC league. You will often find many teams dressing up for game days.

Traditionally if there is a big game coming up the team will meet at the lion on the quad and paint it in whatever colors they want, writing ‘Beat Choate’ or ‘Go GVH’. Another Williston tradition is to ring the victory bell after winning a game. After long bus rides the team will walk up together to ring it one after another. Or if the team wins a huge game on Sawyer field under the lights the team will sprint up to the bell and ring it with such enthusiasm you can hear it all the way up at Galbraith fields.

Just as sports are a huge part of Williston, so are academics. Every day students have between three to five classes and one to two free periods per day. Some students take more rigorous courses and have only one even no free periods. Before graduating Williston, many students will have taken at least one AP or honors class. The upper classmen tend to take one or two AP classes their senior years and have the rest of their classes be electives. Electives help students get all their credits in. They tend to be easier classes, only lasting one or two trimesters at most. Williston also offers directed studies, which meet for at least one period a week, so the rest of the week that student will have a free during that class period. Many students who take directed studies will have three free periods, and they find it a lot easier to manage their school work because they only have two or three classes a day, and they have so much free time to catch up on any missed assignments.

Esther Kim, a senior proctor and third year Williston student, is in the Art Intensive after school program. Not having to attend rigorous practices after a long day of school she goes to the art studio and works on her projects for the trimester. When asked if she found it hard to balance art and school she laughed and said, “No, because one of my classes is a directed study in painting with Ms. White.” She went on to say, “I am also in the art intensive program which gives me time to focus and work on my pieces so that I have all study hall to focus on my homework and be concentrated on my academics.” Esther joked about joining a sports team if it was not for her knee injury that occurred in her sophomore year. She also believes that she has very little free time. “Between the college application process and balancing my school work every day is full of stress,” Esther says.

Christina Zalewski, a senior and third year Williston student is a member of the girls varsity hockey and lacrosse teams. In the fall she participates in the fitness program, training for her upcoming hockey season. When asked if she found it hard to balance school and sports she said, “Some days yes and some days no. On game days when we are traveling it’s harder because we can’t do homework on the bus that is on our new tablets.”  Christina takes a demanding schedule and rarely has free time. “All of my free periods are taken up by college meetings or work jobs.” She often will find herself losing sleep during the school year. “I have to stay up and do all my school work late into the night which is not healthy for a student or an athlete,” she said.

Regardless if you participate in the Art Intensive after school program or on a sports team free time at Williston is rare. For any high school student the work load is hard enough without adding after school activities. That is what you get when you come to a prep school. It helps you manage your time better, work more efficiently and savor your free time because it is so rare.