When you make that decision to become a college athlete, you're committing to way more than just games and practices–in most cases, it's treated like another job in addition to academics. Even at the DIII level, the schedules are intense. Former Nichols College pitcher Brendan Duffy gave us an insight on the busy schedule he has as a DIII baseball player.

5:00 AM: Wake Up!

In order to get all his activities done in a day, Brendan wakes up at 5:00 AM to eat breakfast and get ready for his day.

Related: Breakfast for Athletes on the Go: Kale, Apple, and Carrot Smoothie

5:45-7:00 AM: Lift

At 5:45, Brendan has to be at the gym for his first lifting session of the day. He has to make sure he's fully energized at this point in order to workout to the best of his ability.

8:00-10:45 AM: Class

After having completed his first baseball commitment of the day, it's time to go to work on his academic commitments. Brendan has both of his classes back to back from 8:00 to around 10:45. Class is a great way for Brendan to break up his baseball workouts.

Related: 5 Time Management Tips from a DIII Athlete

11:00 AM-12:30 PM: Training

At this point, Bredan's main responsibilities are sport-related. After class, he goes to do his individual training from 11-12:30. These are usually more focused for each player's needs and not as intense since they have yet to have practice.

2:00-6:00 PM: Practice

After a nice hour break, Brendan makes his way over to his daily team practice. Unlike the earlier commitments which were focused more on conditioning and training, this practice is fully baseball focused. This practice runs from around 2:00-6:00, taking up most of the afternoon.

6:00-11:00: Time to Unwind

Brendan is finally done with his responsibilities and now uses this time for a variety of different things. This is his time to make dinner, and shower after a long day of classes and training. Then, it's time for Brendan to work on all of his assignments and study for classes along with work assignments. These tasks are usually very time consuming, taking up a good amount of the night, but once he completes what he needs, he uses the rest of the time to unwind and relax. For Brendan, this involves watching TV, hanging out with friends, or even just hanging out on his own. He then makes sure to get to bed at a reasonable time so he can do the same thing the next day.

What's a day in your life like? Share your Daily Grind at [email protected]

Image Credit: Nichols College

* Originally published on May 10, 2023, by Brayden Koch