Lucas Gebhart
Sports Editor
The month of February is the shortest month in the calendar year, yet it’s the month where I find myself doing the most work.
I want to make one thing clear right off the bat, I’m not complaining because I’m working two jobs which I have dreamed of having ever since I was a little kid.
In addition to working for The Bengal, I have another job through IdahoSports.com, a website that broadcasts Idaho high school sports over the internet.
This last weekend I was in Boise for four days covering the girls’ basketball state tournament and I will be doing the same thing next week for the boys’ tournament.
If you asked the 18-year-old Lucas what he thought he’d be doing when he was a junior in college, working two jobs and taking 15 credits would have never have come up as a topic discussion.
That 18-year-old Lucas would have been happy just to graduate with a degree, let alone be the Sports Editor for his school newspaper and have a broadcasting job.
What this lifestyle means is I have to sacrifice the present for the future and I’m okay with that.
When somebody asks if I can cover a game, I’m covering that game.
When somebody asks if I want to freelance for their newspaper, I’m freelancing for their newspaper.
When I don’t have time to cover games, I cover games because that’s what this field requires to be successful.
The only time I have ever turned down an opportunity to cover a game, was when I was already covering a game.
Instead of hanging out with my roommates last Friday night after I got home from broadcasting a boys’ basketball game, I went into my room and did preparation for the upcoming girls’ tournament.
That is one of many examples of how I have sacrificed my social life for work and school the last three weeks.
But I’m not mad about it. If I was, I’d quit.
I don’t need the money. My parents pay my tuition and I have had a job since I was 12 years old. I’m not living paycheck to paycheck like most college students who work two jobs are.
I do this to myself because I love it too much not to.
The night before I left for the girls’ tournament, I went to my three classes, finished up an eight-page report, wrote and published a blog, took a geology quiz, wrote this and finalized my state packets which consists of eight teams with about three to four pages of information on each team. I worked, went to class and did homework for 15 hours on that day and slept for six.
The thing about State Week is all my stuff has to be done by Tuesday so I can leave Wednesday, meaning what is already a normally busy schedule borders impossibility.
I’m up until at least two in the morning every night while averaging about six hours of sleep per-night. Good thing coffee and caffeinated ice tea is a thing.
State Week has taught me how to manage my time and taught me how to do it quickly, requiring delicate planning of each day at the week’s start.
It taught me to do what I need to do for a set amount of time to the best of your ability, move on to the next thing and don’t worry about the last thing.
Papers will never be perfect and a 7/10 on a quiz isn’t the worst thing in the world.
It taught me to take time for myself, and this means Lucas time. Nobody else is allowed when Lucas is having Lucas time.
That’s where the stress deflates and it is usually is done with music, a basketball and a hardwood floor.
I think that’s when I realized that I’m doing what I want to do for the rest of my life.
I took a break from covering and preparing to cover basketball games, to go play basketball.
