It's that time of year again, finals are here and it is stressful for all students. But what about student-athletes? They have to manage both a full workload of classes and tests just like the traditional students, but they have a commitment to a practice and game schedules including travel in the particular sport they play. For athletes around the nation and at Southeast, this can be a challenge.

Finals week for Southeast Missouri State University is the week of Dec. 15 and for Chris Martin, a sophomore jumper on the track team, being able to keep up with the assignments and also keep up with practice is the toughest part.

"You have to learn to manage your time," Martin said. "Having to study and go to practice and then having your friends that want to hang out with you, it's tough."

But Martin has learned that to be a successful student-athlete you have to prioritize.

"I use my phone a lot," Martin said. "I write down times in my phone of times of when stuff needs to be done and I set alarms. Then I sit down and do the assignment and go back to what I was doing."

Martin was named Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Year last season in both the indoor and outdoor seasons, while competing in 10 meets in the outdoor season as a true freshman in 2014. Some of Martin's highlights that season where he finished second in the decathlon at the OVC Championships with 6,043 points, won the triple jump at the OVC Championships with a leap of 15.61 meters and also won the triple jump at the Red Wolf Open with a mark of 15.48 meters.

Martin, an exercise science major, said that he learned pretty quickly as a freshman at Southeast what happens when you go on the road for meets and don't do your schoolwork. Southeast student-athletes take extensive roadtrips where they are away from campus for days at a time.

"Last year, as a freshman, I didn't take that warning that you should take your homework on the road with you," Martin said. "My grades started to drop, and I had to go back to the drawing board and rethink some things and then started to take my work on the road."

Not only do the younger students have stresses or problems keeping up with the workload of college athletics and homework, senior jumper Jessica Brown, also has problems keeping up sometimes.

"Balancing work and practice is a tough thing," Brown said. "Sometimes I don't want to go to practice because I need to study. I just want to be a normal student."

Brown says she sometimes feels overwhelmed by all the things she has to do but like Martin, it comes down to managing time.

"I always feel stressed out," Brown said. "But I just have to put my priorities in line and focus on them first. If we are away from school, I will take the things I know I need and study on the bus and then when we get to the place where we are going I study there in the hotel."

Brown had a very good season her junior year as she competed in 10 meets during the outdoor season. She helped her 4x100m relay team finish third at the OVC Championships with a time of 46.05 seconds and she set a personal best during the indoor season when she won the long jump with a leap of 6.07 meters.

Brown, a pre-medical assistant major at Southeast and a member of the 2014 OVC Commissioner's Honor Roll, said she realizes with a difficult major in the medical field that having a routine is key.

"I have to pick and choose, probably two to three hours of studying and then get something to eat and study some more," Brown said. "That's about it."