Juggling seems like a fairly simple concept: you take any small projectile and start tossing it between your hands, eventually adding more objects until you’re throwing around multiple oranges, tennis balls, chain saws, whatever. All at the same time. It’s a little known fact, but almost every girl at Wake Forest is an expert juggler. Like your everyday circus clowns, we wear the makeup, rock the (occasional) eccentric outfits, and more than anything, we juggle. But instead of throwing cats and bowling pins around in the air, girls at Wake juggle the overwhelming combination of school, work, sports, clubs, boys, and everything else – all while still trying to throw some sleep into the mix.Â
I recently had the opportunity to speak with one of our campus’s expert jugglers, and one of the newest members to the circus we know as Wake Forest University. You may have seen her around campus explaining that being assigned a random roommate freshman year doesn’t necessarily mean you will be living with a psycho serial killer while giving a tour to a group of wide eyed prospectives, or burying her head into an organic chemistry textbook at her main man’s house (what she and Z. Smith have is real love, ok?). One thing is clear: this girl gets around…in all the right ways. Freshman Courtney Smith made it her goal to get involved on campus when she came here this past August, and it’s safe to say she has done just that.
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Courtney is an aspiring bio-chem major, and on top of that she is an admissions ambassador, recently appointed student advisor, a member of the club lacrosse team, acting vice president, treasurer, and secretary of the newly formed club gymnastics team, and she has played on intermural teams like inner tube water polo. She is able to juggle all of that and still remain on the Dean’s list.Â
“There were certain things I knew I wanted to do when I came here,” Courtney said. “Everything I do, I do it for a reason. [I am a tour guide] because I like sharing my experiences with others and telling them why I have loved Wake so far. Lacrosse I love because it’s a team sport. I like gymnastics because it’s kind of like a project right now and it has always been a huge part of my life, so I am excited to get the club going here.”
Courtney’s schedule becomes more packed with every commitment, but she has mastered the balancing act required to juggle all of these activities.
“If there is a certain time for everything then there is no time to slack off,” Courtney said. “I always work best when I have a lot to do because when I know I don’t have a lot of extra time I know there is no time for slacking off; there is no time for Facebook creeping. I have to work hard in that little time I have.”
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Of course, packing your schedule with clubs and sports doesn’t come without sacrifices.
“I don’t sleep a lot,” Courtney said. “I take advantage of what time I have when I am free and do as much as I can. If I know something has to get done I will make sure it gets done, even if that means staying up till four o’clock.”
Along with tackling a full schedule here at school, Courtney also takes on the commitment of a long distance relationship. Her boyfriend, who goes to school in Massachusetts, is very supportive of Courtney.
“I really owe a lot of the credit to him,” Courtney said. “He is very understanding about my super hectic schedule and that sometimes I can’t really talk if I have practice or homework or a meeting. I try to multitask and do some homework while we text or I’ll call him in between lunch and class just to say hi.”
Whether it is juggling school, clubs, sports, or even boys, Courtney has become a pro (just like many other girls here at Wake). In the end, at least at Wake Forest, being a circus freak isn’t so bad after all.