Yesterday evening I had the privilege of sitting in a talk given by the Cornell’s Tennis Head Coach. It was really humbling and incredibly inspiring to hear of the adversity the speaker strived through. Coach Tanasoiu imparted two pieces of advice that he had realized over the years:

1. Be intentional.

2. Fight Adversity.

Ironically enough, I’m unintentionally sitting in bed at five in the morning contemplating life, unable to sleep. As my Mechanical Synthesis class revealed early on in the semester, I am a Myers Briggs -P, which stands for perceiving. It also happens to be synonymous with “questionable time management skills.” As a student involved in many different activities of all shapes and sizes, I’m busy, all the time. However, as a -P, I find myself  working to perfection, ignoring time constraints, until I have everything just right. A rigid schedule is impossible for me. I work to deadlines, and when I’m not working, I’m taking on more tasks to work on.

It was awe inspiring to hear about a student athlete’s schedule and the rigidly intentional schedule they must have in order to be successful. A student athlete not only has to compete to be a good student, but also to play. A student athlete must follow a very strict lifestyle and schedule in order to make all of their deadlines successfully.

While most of us non-athletes are just impressed by student athletes’ athletic abilities, Coach Tanasoiu’s talk brought another one of their merits that isn’t commonly talked about to light: their inhuman ability to juggle two jobs at once. Or as the coach put it, their ability to get a medical degree while working in the military. It’s extremely admirable and I hope that someday I will be able to fight adversity and accomplish more in the mere 24 hours we have every day.