Meghan McClure is a former outside hitter on the Stanford University women's volleyball team. In her four years, Meghan became a 2x NCAA National Champion, 3x Pac-12 Champion, AVCA All-America honorable mention, All-Pac-12 Conference, 2x CoSIDA Academic All-America first team, and Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Meghan was also a Science, Technology & Society major along with being one of the best college volleyball players in the country. Meghan talked us through what one of her days looked like as a Division I student athlete at Stanford University:

8:00 AM: Start the Day

Meghan begins her day on the phone with her mom and sister while riding her bike through Stanford's campus to attend Training Table, a place for athletes to get meals. Here is where she and her teammates eat breakfast to fuel up for the day.

9 AM – 3 PM: Classes/Lunch

Meghan then has a series of classes while squeezing in lunch each day before practice begins. To handle the rigorous academic load, she works to maximize every bit of time she has. This can mean studying or working on assignments during the 30 minutes between classes, or during travel time on the road before a match.

3-4 PM: Study

Meghan will fit in about an hour of time before practice to get some homework done. Meghan works extremely hard to get ahead in her classes to allow for peace of mind later to help keep her stay focused.

4-7 PM: Practice

She begins practice at Maples Pavillion with her teammates. During her “off” season, she has weight-lifting four times a week, individual sessions with her coaching staff to focus on personal skills and one team practice per week. Stanford's Women's Volleyball team is very close; they love to sing and dance, play games, and also partake in a prank war, which Meghan recounts as both stressful and incredibly fun.

7 PM: Dinner

Meghan will fit in a quick dinner with her teammates before getting back to work and finishing up whatever homework she has left. She tries to get off campus at least once a week to drive to a local restaurant for dinner with her friends.

8-10 PM: Homework

Meghan will finish up her homework for the day and start to get ready for bed.

10:00 PM: Relax/Head to Bed

Meghan rounds out her day by watching some television before she goes to bed.

While her days may seem stressful to many, she is incredibly grateful for the opportunity to be a student-athlete at her dream school: “I am thankful for the opportunity to accomplish such a goal I worked incredibly hard to achieve all the things I have. I am playing for my dream school, and best of all we won the National Championship.”

Image Credit: Stanford Athletics