Case Studies

Name of the student:

Alina Dima

Country:

Romania

Sport:

Badminton

Name of the School:

Colegiul National “Ion Minulescu” Slatina

School Typology:

Theoretical Highschool

Address:

Str. Basarabilor, 33, Slatina, Romania

Tel:

+ 40 249 414 171

Fax:

+40 249 413 081

Web site:

E-mail:

The Context:

My passion for the sport started during my studies. The competitive atmosphere in the club, always striving for improvement, made me love every minute of it.

The activity was well-received by my friends and family, as well as the members of the club, who encouraged strictly adhering to the training sessions schedule.

The sport infrastructure was adequate for the sport I was practicing.

I believe that physical education is very important for one's health, relaxation, as well as sharpening certain skills. In my case, badminton relies on precision and tactics, which also benefit me outside of the badminton court. Furthermore, the mere training regime which requires discipline from the student can also be incorporated in everyday life.

I think that young people are not encouraged to practice sport in Romania, at least not in smaller cities. The facilities are not many, there are not many coaches or teams, and the only contact with sport ends up being established during mandatory physical education classes in school. Girls are especially likely to skip even those, while the boys typically have limited options for sports, and are likely to end up playing football on half a court. Even though they might have the full support of their parents, the social status quo doesn't encourage girls to play sports. I see it more of a mentality problem, further encouraged by the lack of facilities.

Balancing Sport and Education:

8h/week


6h/day

First place in the female doubles category at a school event.
Third place in the mixed doubles category at a school event.

Finished my Bachelor's degree, starting an integrated PhD soon with funding. Won a stipend; had scholarship throughout my bachelor’s studies.

The sport helped me immensely. I realized the importance of sustained physical exercise and how to work in order to constantly improve, how to better manage my time in order not to skip practices, I learned a few things about myself and how I react to various situations, I made new friends and learned. The impact was mostly on my personal development which I feel is greatly related to my career. The immediate impact was not visible, but it certainly was not negative.

No.

Plan ahead and look at the training session as an important part of my calendar. School always takes priority for me, so there was never an issue in the favor of the sport activity; the only problem was skipping sessions for school related stuff, which I managed to solve by forcing myself to solve my academic problems outside of badminton time.

I think I did a pretty decent job at balancing them out; if the balance tends to be in favor of the academic work, being organized helps for some people. If it is the other way around, then the person should reevaluate their priorities. If it turns out that sport is in fact their number one priority, then what they were doing was not wrong to begin with; if the situation is the other way around, then they should try to find other motivating factors for the chosen academic path which will hopefully cut out the need for procrastination through sport, or whatever factor is preventing them from reaching their personal goals.

Future Perspectives:

University, and sport aside. Then work, and also sport aside.