Pace University is known for many things such as its accounting program, nursing school, and academic excellence. Maintaining a GPA of 3.0 or higher can be difficult, especially when you add sports into the mix.
Plenty of student athletes at Pace have achieved a high level of performance, both on the field and in the classroom. Just this past Thur., Feb. 6, the Northeast-10 Conference announced that 57 percent of student athletes at Pace were named to the Northeast -10 Commissioner’s Honor Roll for the 2013 semester.
That ended up being 160 of Pace’s student athletes. Two of those athletes, tight end Luiz Ribeiro and goalie Leslie Robertson, were also named to the Northeast-10 Fall All-Academic Team.
Both athletes understand just how difficult it can be to balance school, sports, and their social lives.
“You definitely have to sacrifice a lot, especially your social life, the entertainment part of your life,” said Ribeiro, a sophomore majoring in Finance. “Even though it’s a lot of hard work, it’s my goal to do well because when you look at the competition when you graduate, I’m not only competing with other students from Pace, but also students from Ivy League schools who already have an edge. I need to do everything I can in order to make myself stand out.”
Robertson’s goal is to get a 4.0 GPA, and although she has not been able to achieve that just yet, she continues to work hard in order to achieve that objective.
“Along with athletics, I pride myself on my achievements in the classroom, no matter how difficult they may be,” said Robertson, a sophomore majoring in biology. “I came in as a student athlete knowing that the biggest challenge is balancing practice and games with academics, and for me it was easier to stay motivated during the season, as opposed to when I wasn’t playing which I know sounds odd.”
Being a commuter, Ribeiro finds it difficult to manage his time between school, football, and work.
“I usually have to wake up at like six in the morning for meetings and workouts and stuff,” said Ribeiro, who had a 3.94 GPA last semester. “And then with my part-time internship some days I have to get up even earlier in order to do my morning report. So sometimes you end up having to sacrifice sleep.”
The key, according to Ribeiro, is time management.
“I had to know how to really separate my time in order to do everything,” said Ribeiro, who last season totaled 22 receptions for 210 yards.
Advice from Robertson, who achieved a 3.7 GPA during the fall 2013 semester, is as follows.
“Stay on top of things always, the worst thing you can do is leave things for the last minute, especially as an athlete,” said Robertson, who led the Northeast-10 last season with 103 saves. “I also think it’s important to make use of mandatory study halls freshman year, and definitely go to the library as much as possible.”
Student athletes who were named to the Northeast-10 Academic All-Conference Teams met three sets of criteria, which included participating in at least half of the team’s games as either a starter or a significant contributor, achieving a cumulative GPA of 3.30 or higher, as well as completing at least one academic year in the athlete’s current institution.