Throughout her high school career, four-year two-sport varsity athlete and 4.0 student Nicki Bouché has demonstrated the hard work that goes into truly fitting the definition of a student athlete.
“During the seasons, [being an athlete] takes up so much of my time,” Bouché said. “Three hours [or more] after school, and on a match or a game day it was pretty much the entire day. It was really hard taking AP classes also and trying to keep [my] grades up during the seasons.”
Many people don’t know the trials and tribulations that come with being a student-athlete. Last year, Richard Sherman, cornerback for the Seattle Seahawks, told his audience in a press conference the hardships that come along with balancing education and sports.
“As a student-athlete, you don’t have that kind of time,” Sherman said, “You wake up in the morning and have weights. Then you go to class. Then you might get a bite to eat, then you go to meetings and then you have practice. And you have to try to get all your school work done.”
To further put it into perspective, the average GPA for all students during the 2013-14 school year was 2.774 according to assistant principal Peter Schurke. Throughout every year of high school Nicki Bouché has maintained a 4.0 GPA, becoming one of five valedictorians amidst balancing a demanding sports schedule.
“[Bouché] is very organized and always prioritizes things well,” senior Alisha Clingan said. “She always puts education first no matter what.”
Taking 6 Advanced Placement (AP) courses throughout her high school career has prepared her for the actual collegiate classes she is going to take at the University of Puget Sound.
Bouché was offered a scholarship from the University of Puget Sound for her academic achievements and participation in tennis. She plans to continue to play tennis while simultaneously earning her major in biology.
In her high school career as a varsity tennis player, Bouché has made it to state all four years for singles and doubles.
As a freshman she placed fourth in doubles. The next year, she hit a few road bumps, yet she still placed eighth. She went to state for singles her junior year and but was not able to place.
However, in her senior season Bouché put it all together and had a statistically fantastic season. She only lost one match as a singles player. Furthermore, she was able to make it to state along with her doubles partner, junior Tina Liu. Bouché ended the season on a high and impressive note by placing fourth in state in doubles.
Bouché is not limited to one sport. She has also played volleyball all four of her high school years and has been on the varsity team for the last three seasons. To add to that, she took it upon herself to be one of the three co-captains on the Hawks team.
“With volleyball I started on the C-team and worked my way up. It was really fun to make a connection with the girls that I moved up with, and the coaches were awesome,” Bouché said.
When she isn’t playing tennis or volleyball after school, she is an active member in Honor Society and the Teens Against Tobacco Use (TATU).
“It was really fun doing [TATU] presentations throughout the year. I really liked the people in that club. They were people that I wouldn’t usually hang out with, we got to go out to lunch, hang out, and they were really cool people,” Bouché said.
Bouché’s exemplifies the idea that even with the physically tasking and time consuming schedule of an athlete, it is possible to find ways to help the school and achieve academic success.
