Balancing Act: Incoming Freshmen Juggle College Life & Athletics At MMA

“They set an example. That’s one thing the student-athletes here do a wonderful job of,” said Jim Seavey, the academy’s director of sports information. “In the case of all cadets, you want everyone to emulate their example. I see that so often with our student-athletes. They set a positive tone.”

But before incoming cadets can emulate their example, they must adjust to the rigors of the regimented lifestyle that comes with being a Buccaneer. Bad habits are carved off like clay from a sculpture from 5 AM wake-up calls by their squad leaders. Slang is erased from one’s vocabulary faster than hitting Ctrl + Alt + Del once they can only answer in “sir sandwiches.”

And there’s the typical freshman class workload to be balanced with the responsibilities of an NCAA Division 3 athlete.

“For an athlete, especially in the fall, you’re balancing everything. You’re adapting to a whole different experience. Now you’re in college, but also you’re a student-athlete. The first two weeks for soccer, football and volleyball, not only are you participating in orientation, you’re also getting ready for your season. When school starts you have your daily duties in the regiment, your regular classload and athletic responsibilities. The balance in that is key,” Seavey said.

Two local freshman cadets—Casey Sullivan from Sagamore Beach and Nick Carpenter from Mashpee—are currently learning the balancing act it takes to succeed at MMA.

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Carpenter, a defensive back on the football team, begins every morning the same way. He promptly shuts off his alarm at 5:10 AM, hops out of bed and scurries to the sink to brush his teeth and make sure he’s clean-shaven. He falls in line outside his dorm room with the rest of his fellow freshman cadets and awaits attendance.

By quarter of six the whole company takes 15 minutes to clean the shared spaces. They’ll mop hallways and clean bathrooms. They just aren’t scrubbing bathroom floors with a toothbrush like Bubba and Forrest Gump.

After cleaning stations are completed, Sullivan, who plays on the MMA volleyball team, and the rest of the freshman cadets fall back to their rooms to get in uniform and shoes, which were ironed and shined the night before, to prepare for room inspections from their squad leaders.

Following room inspections there’s about 20 minutes of downtime before joining the rest of the school on the athletic fields at 7:05 for morning formation, during which they salute the flag.

In a chock-full day, 15 to 20 minutes is considered downtime.

And then classes start.

While most college students are sleeping off the cheap beers and reheated pizza from the night before, Carpenter and Sullivan are revving up to third gear.

“It’s been tough, but I don’t know what it’s like at another college with juggling sports. It’s just long days,” Carpenter said.

Sullivan said sometimes jealousy creeps in when she’s watching her friends on social media while she’s in the middle of her typical 17-hour days.

“There’s definitely some jealousy [of my out-of-school friends], especially when I’m ironing my clothes or shining my shoes before bed,” she said.

As the old phrase goes, tough times don’t last, but tough people do. That message is in the back of every cadet’s mind through the first six weeks of school at MMA.

“It was a big decision,” Carpenter said. “Obviously there’s a great return on your investment. What you’re getting out of it for what you’re putting in it is, bar none, a great deal.”

By 4 PM, the student-athletes are itching for practice time. To many, practice serves as an escape from the regimented lifestyle. It’s a time when the stress from the daily grind gets flushed down with every spike on the hardwood or a tackle for loss.

“Freshman year is hectic, and football is kind of an escape from all the regimen stuff,” Carpenter said. “For two hours I can clear my mind and not have to worry about math for a while. I can have fun and focus on football.”

Sullivan’s main sport is lacrosse, but she looked at fall athletics the same way, so she stuck with volleyball despite only picking up the sport her freshman year at St. John Paul II.

“What I thought about was how volleyball would get me away from the regimented stuff for a while. I wasn’t going to play volleyball, only lacrosse. That’s why I kind of joined the team. I definitely enjoy volleyball. It gets me away from the whole regimen and gives me the time away,” she said.

* * *

Discipline. Honor. Leadership.

Those three words serve as the motto for the academy. Those virtues started to play a bigger role in the cadets’ lives once freshman orientation began on August 18.

“I don’t want to say it’s intense, but you’re adapting to a different lifestyle. Those first two weeks are so formative of how their college career is going to play out. Kids are prepared for it when they come in, though,” Seavey said.

Carpenter said he believes he’s thriving in the regimented system. The structure and lack of gaps during the day help him stay sharp.

“They tell you as a freshman to leave the thinking to everyone else,” Carpenter said. “They don’t let you fail here. That’s a great trait about this school. You know what you need to do, when you need to do it. That’s why they have such a high success at this school.”

And on the field he’s adapting to a faster style of play and working into the defensive rotation. He was a captain and a quarterback on the two-time Super Bowl champion Mashpee Falcons team, but for the Bucs he is playing at the strong safety position.

“Football at the high school level you can read the play and react right away,” he said. “At college you have to wait for the play to develop more.”

His head coach, Jeremy Cameron, reminds him that the football field is a time to release any pent-up frustrations.

“For two hours there’s nothing we can do about anything off the football field,” Cameron said. “We can only focus on what we can be better at as a football team. Once 6 PM hits, whatever issues you have, you can come to the office and we’ll try and sort it out.”

Getting freshmen student-athletes up to speed is an accelerated process, Cameron said. The biggest thing they want out of freshmen is for them to become sophomores. Being around the upper classmen shows them a light is at the end of the tunnel.

For Sullivan, her volleyball teammates were able to form a bond that’s helped carry her through tough days.

“We’re all so close,” she said. “That helped me get through the hardest parts.”

* * *

As of October 1, the freshman class is officially recognized as cadets. For the first six weeks they are referred to—and can only refer to themselves—as cadet candidates.

Freshmen are easily spotted on campus in that time, as all of them must participate in the Freshmen Shuffle, where newcomers must run to class until the first day of October. Cadet candidates must walk the hallways “squaring” corners, where they tightly turn 90 degrees at every corner of every building.

The hardest part of the academy is over. Sullivan’s family has already noticed a difference.

“They’ve definitely seen me grow up a lot,” she said. “Especially compared to my friends who go to more traditional colleges.”

It wasn’t an easy choice to decide on Mass Maritime, but Carpenter and Sullivan both have family alumni who have sung the academy’s praises. Sullivan’s father went there and always wanted his daughter to go as well. She said he told her that if she gets through freshman year, it’ll be the best three years of her life.

Carpenter’s uncle, a 1990 MMA graduate, owns an engineering company in Connecticut. He told Carpenter that he owes MMA a lot for getting him where he is now.

For all the early mornings, the late nights and days packed to the brim, this is what they signed up for.

“The best surprise is no surprise,” Cameron said. “We try to be very upfront on the expectations on both sides. It’s a difficult challenge for a freshman to walk into.”

Nearly two months into their new hectic worlds, Carpenter and Sullivan are glad they put the burden of playing a fall sport on their shoulders. Both expect to play a spring sport—baseball for Carpenter and lacrosse for Sullivan.

What else would they do with that free time?

“I had a day off from volleyball and I didn’t know what to do with myself,” Sullivan said. “I’m so used to time management and having to get all this stuff done. I didn’t know what to do.”

They recommend to incoming freshmen who are contemplating going to MMA and playing a fall sport to just dive in, headfirst.

“Get involved sooner as opposed to later,” Carpenter said “You only have four years. You might as well make the most of it somehow.”

Six weeks in and they are already leading by example.