Athletes rise above academic pressures

Thursday, November 12, 1998

Athletes rise above academic pressures

FEATURE: School, sports balance out for players on top water
polo squad

By Steve Kim

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

As if it’s a breeze to get a near perfect GPA at UCLA. And as if
it’s a cinch to practice some five hours a day on top of that. How
dare they make it look so easy, leading grade curves and defeating
opposing water polo team at the same time?

Outrageous. Just who do these guys think they are?

It’s not ‘easy,’ as they’ll tell you ­ but senior Aaron
Harries and junior Parsa Bonderson have mastered the art of
juggling tough academic courses with one hand and draining water
polo practices with the other.

Harries, a Bruin two-meterman, is a fifth-year physiological
sciences major with a 3.83 GPA. This pre-medical school student
scored 32 on the MCAT and is currently in his interview process
with schools like Harvard, Columbia and Northwestern.

Bonderson, a goalie, is in his fourth year double majoring in
physics and math/applied science. He has a 3.93 GPA and is planning
to go to graduate school in his fields of study. Of the 11 classes
he took last academic year, he earned A+’s on the greater majority.
Both Harries and Bonderson have been GTE regional academic
All-American.

Maintaining such high grades are difficult enough, let alone
with an extracurricular activity such as Division I water polo.
Being on the team requires them to practice three hours a day plus
frequent weight training and additional morning practice hours.

Time commitment with the team is one thing, physical energy
output is another.

"It limits when you can study but it also makes it tougher after
practice, when you’re completely worn out," Bonderson says. "You
try to do some homework but you’re like, ‘Maybe I should take a
nap.’"

Assistant coach Adam Krikorian graduated from the UCLA water
polo program few years ago. He knows from first-hand experience how
challenging it is to be both a student and an athlete.

"I don’t know what it’s like in other sports but when you get
back from practice, you’re just dead," Krikorian remembers. "I
remember many times reading a book and it wouldn’t even be late,
it’d be like seven o’ clock. And next thing you know, it’s eight
and your head is in the book, drooling.

"It’s such a demanding sport and Guy demands more out of you in
practice," he continues. "To see what those guys have done and to
be as good as they are in the water at the same time is extremely
impressive."

As intense as it is to take on two full-time endeavors, they
like the challenge of excelling in both and don’t see any reason
for giving up one for another. In fact, they even make time for
social activities. Harries, for example is a member of Phi Kappa
Psi fraternity, which also takes a lot of his commitment.

"I find there’s enough time to study and go out if you carefully
manage your time," Harries says. "I try to study throughout the
quarter so it doesn’t build up too much at the end. Then I just
study two or three days before a test.

"I actually like to sleep a lot and that’s one thing that never
goes," he says, laughing. "I try to get eight hours so if something
were to go, it’d be maybe lounging time or watching TV."

Whichever way you approach it, these two get the job done. Their
academic accomplishments helped the water polo team get the highest
average GPA among the UCLA men’s sports teams.

Head coach Guy Baker says while Harries and Bonderson get the
highest grades, many other team members also do well in studies.
One of the reasons is their disciplined training regimen rubs off
on other facets of daily routine. And, as Baker explains, they
can’t rely on a secure income playing water polo for a living.

"From water polo’s perspective, the reason why they’re here is
for a degree," Baker says. "Water polo is great but there’s no
professional water polo. Some of these guys go on to play in the
Olympics, some of these guys are the best players in the world, but
no matter how good of a water polo player you are, you still have
to fall back on your degree. So they take school seriously."

And that is reflected by Bonderson’s approach to academics.

"I consider academics a priority because I’ve never considered
sports as what I’m best at," Bonderson says. "I always thought of
myself as a student who just happens to have some athletic
ability."

Bonderson may downplay his athleticism, but he and Harries are
key players in this year’s championship quality team. Bonderson is
the starting goalie, while Harries is part of a nine-man game
rotation. They were mere walk-ons a few years ago.

"I was coming to UCLA and I wanted to give water polo a try even
though it wasn’t absolutely necessary," Bonderson recalls. "I tried
contacting Guy for the longest time but I just never got a response
until I walked on the pool deck before practice and asked him if I
could play.

"It turns out the first two years I’m there," he adds, "our team
wins the national championship. It was nice, even though I didn’t
play."

Bonderson played understudy to All-American goalie Matt Swanson
at the time. Since Swanson’s graduation, he gradually worked his
way up to his starting position.

Harries has a similar story in that he also walked on as a
freshman. At the time, he was also rushing his fraternity, which
added to the pressure of making the cut. His improvement was
dramatic, as Baker says.

"Aaron couldn’t even make our swimming warm-up set at first,"
Baker recalls. "The only reason we kept him on the team was because
he was 6-4, 215 pounds, left handed and threw the ball hard. If we
ever thought he’d ever play here, it was remote."

That remoteness became more and more of a reality as Harries was
determined to make the team.

"Trying to walk on to a national championship team was pretty
tough because there’s a lot of competition," Harries says. "I
really got in shape and work hard. I wasn’t fast when I first came
in but my swimming’s improved drastically and it’s been a good
experience. I really enjoyed doing it."

Knowing the amount of work and time Harries has put into making
the team, his coach recognizes the difference between now and
then.

"He’s put so much time into it since and it’s a neat story
because he’s playing well this year," Baker says. "He’s scoring
goals for us on a consistent basis and he’s made his way into our
nine-player rotation."

Harries and Bonderson take the notion of a balanced college life
to the extreme. Killer GPAs and membership on a national
championship team may not be all that’s valuable in life, but no
one can deny them of their hard earned bragging right.

It’s apparent they’re both overachievers and it’s in their
nature to want to do more than what’s required.

"I’ve always liked to be involved in a lot of things, perhaps
too many things," says Harries, who’ll graduate after this quarter.
"Taking on those three big responsibilities wasn’t easy, but I just
like being involved."

CHARLES KUO/Daily Bruin

Parsa Bonderson and Aaron Harries are just two of the many
athletes at UCLA that successfully juggle school and sports.

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