Running the Gauntlet from Studio to Stadium: A Conversation with CAED Student Athletes
by Nathan Jackson
Finding one's school-life balance as a student in the College of Architecture and Environmental Design (CAED) is never easy. Long studio and lab hours, coupled with a rigorous curriculum and the trials and tribulations of college life, make for a steep challenge. This holds doubly true for Lariel Henley and Chase Walter, two members of the Cal Poly Track and Field team, who have decided to add sports to their mix.
On the academic front, Lariel is currently completing her Bachelor of Architectural Engineering (ARCE) with plans to pursue her Master of Science in ARCE at Cal Poly this fall. Chase is successfully nearing the end of his Master of City and Regional Planning (MCRP). On the athletic front, Lariel, a high jumper, has posted a college best of five feet seven inches at a Santa Barbara meet, as well as placing first in several meets, and received Big West All-Academic honors. Chase, meanwhile, after switching from baseball to track, broke both the Dempsey Indoor and Cal Poly records for the 600-meter race at 1:16:14 on January 17, which was the fastest time in the world at the time and remains the second-fastest time this year. He is also part of a decorated 4x400-meter relay team and has received Big West All-Academic honors.
Lariel and Chase recently took time out of their busy schedules to discuss how they achieve success, both on and off the field.
With a demanding major and sport, how do you maintain balance between academic and athletic life? What's a typical daily schedule?
Lariel Henley (Left): Yeah, it's just making sure that you keep a balance, and you make sure that you spend enough time on all aspects of your life. It obviously is super busy, and my major is very demanding. So, I have to spend a lot of time with school, but I also make sure that I dedicate enough time to my sport, and to social activities, and rest, because when one thing goes out of balance, it can make everything a little bit more difficult. I just think these past couple of years, just finding the right balance between everything, is what allowed me to continue doing it all four years.
Chase Walter (Right): The best way has been communication between my professors, coaches, colleagues, and teammates. Telling them, "Hey, I'm traveling this weekend, what can I do to get ahead?" or talking to classmates about, "Can you screen record [a lecture] or help walk me through something when I'm on the road?"
How do you find time for activities outside your work/athletic life? I.e., carving out time for your own hobbies in a busy schedule.
Lariel: I definitely don't really have any free time, which is okay. On Saturdays, I try not to do anything so I can really spend time with my friends and go outside. Even in day-to-day situations, it's really important for athletes to recover and receive treatment when necessary. I find that’s a key time because I can socialize in the training room. I just make sure to give myself time to go and do my rehab, as I have some shin and nerve injuries, and also make sure to really stretch after practice. And during the day, I'll try to study with people so that I'm like, you know, doing two things at once.
Chase: It's hard, but not impossible. I have a good group of friends in athletics, so having friends on the team helps a ton. When weightlifting, we're also just hanging out [apart from practicing]. And I take advantage of my free time, free mornings where I take care of laundry or relax or whatever. The CRP program has been good in that it offers a good work-life balance. As I mentioned earlier, it's all about effective communication.
Both of you are either actively pursuing Master’s degrees or are going to start next fall. What made you decide to do so, and will you continue to be part of the Track and Field team?
Lariel: This is currently my last year of track, as we only have four years of eligibility. However, a current NCAA proposal is to give athletes an additional year due to COVID. So, if that were the case, I would have another year. That being said, I honestly am not sure if I would pursue a fifth year, because I do think it would be interesting to finish my master's without having athletics and just like experience a non-athlete college experience. Academically, though, it's just a really great program here. It's only one year. A lot of other options would have been at least two years. I really like my professors here, and I appreciate how I've already begun some graduate classes. And I have been interested in pursuing a master's degree, regardless, so it was a really perfect option. And it also helped me pursue some of my [architecture] minor classes.
Chase: I did my undergrad here in business with a minor in real property development, and I had to take a few CRP classes as part of that. I wanted to pursue a career in development after college, and the CRP program here is highly regarded and well-taught. Through the program, I've started talking to both city governments and private developers about internships for the summer, and getting a master's in CRP will set me up for a future career. Regarding athletics, I was eligible for one more year, and while debating whether to go back to track or not, I thought, "I don't want to look back in 20 years and have that extra year of eligibility wasted.” I wanted to use it, my parents were supportive of it, and I was lucky to run one more year.
Have you ever had to balance your work and athletic lives? Like completing an assignment in the middle of a meet, etc.
Lariel (Right): Ideally like the day before [a meet] I don’t do any schoolwork, so I don't get stressed out. However, nights after a meet, when we're in the hotels, like you can always catch me in the lobby till like 11 p.m. working on my model or my calculations, or in the airports, where I'm always doing homework or studying.
Chase (Left): Recently, we had to travel, and for the lab, we had to create a set of site and map plans. I had to do a screen recording of my presentation on the bus, and I just couldn't figure out how to switch between documents and map, but [my professors] thought it was really funny to watch me scramble.
This interview has been edited for clarity and concision.
