"Gene swimming for the ISB swim team December 2022"
Many students in our high school prioritize classes and tests, which make them stay up very late studying and putting in their all into the work just for a good grade. Some students prioritize having a social life. They have friends they hang out with, friends that support each other, and friends who can listen to you complain for hours. Other students prioritize sports and other extracurriculars after school, where they play for the school, go to practices, and win tournaments. But what happens when a student wants to truly excel in more than one area?
(“International School Bangkok”)
15-year-old Gene Sunthornrangsri is a high school freshman at the International School of Bangkok. Most likely, we are fully aware of her swimming career. She competed for Thailand's national swimming team and qualified for the Sea Games and the World Championships, where she brought home a bronze medal from the Sea Games. Gene is a friend to many in the high school, and many people love and support her throughout her swimming journey.
Gene started swimming when she was very young in elementary school. She states that she “never truly thought that she was gonna have a future in swimming” and that she was only doing it for fun with her friends. As the years went by, she found a passion for swimming and started to like it more than just a sport. “I was just on the swim team to make new friends,” she said “Then I started going professional and competing at a national level in 5th grade” and then in 8th grade, she qualified for the national team.
Swimming for the national team and joining international competitions creates a complex balance between training and school. Gene states that she has been in and out of school for 2 months, which has been really tiring for her and her body. She had to focus on swimming because she was representing the Thailand swimming team, in addition to making sure her schoolwork was finished on time and that she was performing well in it. When Gene went to the world championships to compete, she states that she got injured. While being injured she still had to swim and do school work while recovering from her injury. So how did she manage all of this?
Gene states that she has a very fixed schedule, and is a really responsible person. “Somedays I swim in the morning, then after school, I would go home do work, swim again, and then do work before I go to bed” Gene also has a math tutor to help her work, which gene says it's very helpful to her because she has missed a lot of school.
In the end, Gene believes that even if she has to miss school and train for hours, it is all worth it. Without giving up these things she would have never been able to be where she is today. School takes up most of our day, and we are always in classes stressing. It may be difficult to balance doing well in school with excelling outside of it, but Gene could do it, and so can you.
Citations
“International School Bangkok.” Internationalschoolsearch.com, 2023
Gene Sunthornrangsri