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Thursday, March 16, 2023
After growing up in England in a traditional girls' boarding school and graduating from a London high school, Anastasia moved to the Netherlands where she is now law student. Anastasia's daily life at the university is different from that of other students. Her priorities and commitments revolve around horses. While other students make law school their only priority, Anastasia's time is divided between his law studies and his investment in high-level sport.
"Our life is different from the routine we live. The commitments and priorities are not the same."
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Therefore, the time ratio is very different for Anastasia and the other students. All their efforts are focused on one source and they prioritize it, while she divides hers in two. "I prioritize horses as much as possible and others don't appreciate the time I have to devote to my sport"she says.
Yet this job sharing makes things exciting for Anastasia. As she explains, it gives her a bit of a change of scenery. And there's nothing better for the brain than a change! "It's crazy, sometimes I walk out of my criminal law class saying, "okay, now I'm going to blow my horses up overseas!" But that's the reality." "Doing two things at the same time is not bad, it's actually good for your head, because they are so different that they keep you motivated. As soon as I get tired of reading, don't understand the concepts, or things don't seem clear to me, I stop and go upstairs. And a few hours later, you can go back to that and be much more productive."
One of the difficulties of combine higher education and high performance sport is l'organization.
Anastasia points out that her professors do not particularly care about her sport. Law school is a very formal environment, where the relationship with teachers is not as familiar as it was in high school. She notes the importance of discipline and thepersonal organization in managing her time. She has resources available to her as an elite athlete, such as an annual gym pass and flexibility in his academic schedule. But ultimately, it's her responsibility to manage her schedule and workload. Fortunately, students have resources to help them as almost everything is available online.
"It's my own responsibility to take care of my schedule and manage my time properly to fit the workload, because it's my choice to do both."
This is why Anastasia is extremely strict about time management and organization. She sometimes schedules minutes of her day to make sure she gets her 4.5 hours of work in during the day or that she can blow all the horses off, even when she has homework due.
"So I'm really looking at every minute of the day, even when I'm in a competition. Horses have always been a priority, always will bebut I'm trying犀利士 e to devote as much time as possible to my studies."
Anastasia currently has six horses in her stables. Although she rides every day, she does not ride all of them daily. Instead, she prefers to ride 3 or 4 horses a day and give them time to work properly. This allows her to get the most out of the training.
"I think I learned over time, because at first that was my method: I would wake up at crazy hours, rush to the stables, rush to work on the flat, and be done by 10 a.m., when everyone else is just starting. But it doesn't work like that. Horses know you're in a hurry, if things go wrong or you don't have time: it goes wrong and you stress out too."
The organization of Anastasia's show jumping season has also evolved over time.
"Of course, it's changed a little bit since I started because I don't allow myself to go on tour too often anymore. I've noticed that when I do, I'm extremely stressed and by the third week I'm kind of lost because I know I have to go back to the chaos I left for the last few weeks. So it's a little unproductive.
So I noticed that two weeks is a good length for me to be absent. JI can cut away from the law and really focus on the horses, my surroundings and my riding. Thus, I reach my peak in the second week. One week is also a good compromise because I can handle it easier with school. Long tours are not ideal for this time of my life. Maybe I can come back to it later."
Balancing higher education and high performance sport is difficult because it requires a lot of organization, time and self-discipline. One of the biggest challenges for Anastasia is to maintain a social life while managing commitments. "I can't drink tequila at 3 a.m. and wake up the next day at 6 a.m. hours and read the French civil code. It's just not possible."
She finds it difficult to maintain her routine when she goes out and has fun, but hopes to learn how to better reconcile her life as a student and rider with her social life. For Anastasia, maintaining a healthy routine when she is stressed or anxious is not always easy. "I've noticed that sometimes when I'm really under pressure, I stop exercising or I don't eat very healthy anymore." You got it, for Anastasia, it's 100% or nothing. She is convinced that investment and discipline are the keys to staying motivated.
"I think it's dedication rather than motivation," Anastasia said when asked how she stays motivated. "There's this big goal in front of me and I always have it in sight. Even though it gets blurry sometimes, I always try to rewrite it for myself, to have it in front of me and walk directly towards it."
"I think it's dedication rather than motivation"
"Sometimes I'm not motivated. Most of the time I wake up in the morning feeling tired, I want to stay in bed and have a day off with a nice, warm tea. But I'll probably be more stressed the next day if the workload keeps piling up... So I don't give in and take real breaks when I'm too overwhelmed. Because the motivation is that in the head finally - the body can handle a lot more than we think..."
"I have a routine in place and there's no room for not doing it. There's just devotion and strict discipline to myself.That's how I stay motivated."
"For riders who are hesitant to continue riding and studying at the same time: do it!"
Anastasia points out the many benefits of such a path, especially for young people. First of all, any high-level education allows you to be exposed to many different environments, to meet interesting people who either share some of your values or have similar ideas. It's an opportunity to be exposed to more interesting people.
Second, I believe that hard work will always result in something. It has to. It's like a generator. You put something in, you have to get something back, opportunities and doors open.
Graduate school and high performance sports, the two are so different. But you will be surprised how they can sometimes help each other. If you are able to do that, you are already so much more interesting than those who only study or only ride. You get to know a new environment, you meet new people, so do it! Don't stop climbing. For me, it is my source of joy, of happiness and I cannot take it away. Without it, I would be a miserable human being.
You can do both, it just requires a lot more self-care, strict discipline and organization and having the right people around you to motivate you.
Combining higher education and high level sports, it's not that complicated, it just requires a good organization! To discover Anastasia's daily life, between horses and law, check out her Instagram account just below ⬇
