CORPUS CHRISTI – Throughout the year, GoIslanders.com's Christina Boothe will feature student-athletes from each of our 15 sports. Every Monday, we will bring you a Q&A session with a student-athlete, while Wednesday we will feature an in-depth story of a student-athlete. Be sure to keep tabs on GoIslanders.com as well as our Facebook (Islanders Athletics) and Twitter/Instagram (Go_Islanders) pages throughout the year for more information.
Being an athlete is exhilarating. Every day for them is a chance to get on the field and do something that they love, and the pursuit of success is constant. But every athlete's road comes to an end, whether it ends after high school, college, professionally or even in the Olympics. Each of these athletes must then choose what they will excel at next. Some never consider the alternatives until they are done chasing their dreams to their fullest potential. Others, like Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi's senior cross-country athlete, Justin Adame, has it all planned out.
Adame, an incredible athlete as well as student, knew where he wanted to go in life and made the steps to get there. But being a college athlete was a part of his path. "I think college athletics was definitely influential in my health-related career choice," Adame said. "I've always been interested in doing something medical related. I think really the time that is required and what you have to put into being an athlete will definitely transfer over as a student and as a practitioner."
Adame is in his fifth year of running for the Islanders. His junior year, he suffered from planter fasciitis and couldn't take part in the season. But he's taking his opportunity to make up that year as a fifth-year senior, and is well aware of all the things he is going to acutely miss once he graduates.
"I've been running competitively since third grade," he shared. "I think it's been ingrained into a lot of what I've done. After I graduate, I am sure I am going to miss that aspect, but at the same time I want to be able to focus on some other things. Here at the university, it's been fun. All of my teammates have been great and the program has definitely gotten better since I was a freshman. From what we do on a day-to-day basis to outside of practice, we have attracted recruits that we couldn't have before."
Adame, like any good athlete, is well versed in the art of time management. But he has taken this drive to a whole new level, balancing excellent grades and a job on top of his athletic expectations.
"I think I just figured out what I had to put into my grades," Adame discussed. "A lot of the classes I take are science related and focus on the human body. The classes are all in depth, and you have to set aside time to study for them. It's not as hard as people might think. It's not difficult if you do the studying, it's just taking the time to do it. I just like to stay busy. I have a job here in town, too. I don't like to be stagnant, so for me personally, business is easier to manage because I like the rush. But the biggest thing about time management is that it's not hard to do if you plan, you just have to actually do it. It's actually taking the time to know your schedule and not let it overwhelm you."
Adame recognizes that the drive he has developed here at the Island University will only benefit him in the long run. He plans to enroll in a vigorous dental program after graduation, and is confident in the time management skills that he has perfected over his college career.
"The curriculum of dental school is that the first two years are spent in the classroom and the last two years are spent practicing," Adame mentioned. "The classes are around thirty hours a semester, so it's a huge amount of work. I don't think I'll miss out on any sort of busyness, but I think I've set myself up here to be able to handle that."
