A Day In The Life Of...Aliza Vaccher

By Athletic Communications on October 14, 2010 1:51 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

Hi Gymdawg fans,

My name is Aliza Vaccher and I'm a freshman gymnast here at UW. As a freshman, I'm still learning exactly how everything works - but now that we're about five weeks into official practice and preseason, I'm getting there!

One thing I've learned in the past month is how different college life is than anything I've experienced before. Even though our hours are technically less than what I was used to in club, our days can be just as intense! Up until this week our days started with 6 a.m. cardio on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, which although it was difficult, will definitely pay off for us in the long run. Now that 6 a.m. cardio is over, however, a few extra hours of sleep is much welcomed!

This first quarter my classes are part of a FIG, or Freshman Interest Group, which also means that I have 12 credit hours - making my schedule very manageable. On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, my day starts with my Political Science lecture at 9:30 a.m., and ends with the connected English Class at 11:30 a.m. On Tuesday's and Thursday's, class begins at 8:30 a.m. with section for Poly Sci. Thursday's this is my only class, which is extremely nice. Tuesday's I also have my FIG general studies class.

After class is over, I get ready for practice. Every day is different, and that is one major difference I have found in college - the amount of independence and self reliance that is just not present in high school. Some days I can go to study table - freshmen are required to do six hours a week - some days I can do our independent weights and cardio time and some days I can just go to the locker room and take a nap!

At 2:00 p.m. it's time for practice. Training room lasts until 2:30 p.m., and during this time anyone who needs it goes to get treatment, taping and basically anything else you could need down in the training room. Anyone who needs a little extra work on something can also go into the gym to work on it during this time. Practice lasts until 5:15 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays (then we go to weights), and 6 p.m. every other day. One thing about college workouts is because of the time limits given to us, we have to be extremely efficient with our time. This is one adjustment I am still working on, but I definitely think it is a positive thing and good skill to learn.

After practice, we have training table, which is our dinner. This is something I'm really enjoying here at UW, and something that no other school I visited had. It is essentially a dinner buffet specifically for athletes - it's really convenient to have access to a good, healthy dinner every night! Also, getting to eat and hang out with your teammates every night is a lot of fun and brings us closer together.

Next, it's time for homework. Some nights I have tutoring, which I have found can be really helpful! Even if I don't, I usually stay at the shellhouse to study - freshmen are required to log six hours a week.

And finally, I get to go home and hopefully relax a little. We have long and tiring days, but it's been such an amazing experience so far and I love being here as part of UW gymnastics! J