A Day In The Life of Coleman Owen
11/22/2024 10:00:00 AM | Football
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ATHENS, Ohio – A crisp alarm chimes from the table in graduate student Coleman Owen's room. It's 6:05 a.m. on Monday morning, and Owen has less than an hour to make it to lift.Â
"I'm a slow riser. I've got five different alarms, and usually it takes until the fourth one to get me out of bed," he said. "Once I'm up and moving around, I'm up."
Owen (Gilbert, Ariz.) shuffles around his apartment and brushes his teeth. It's the first of many tasks he has to do in the day — and arguably the smallest on his list. But before he gets too far ahead of himself, the wide receiver centers himself with scripture and a snack.Â
It's easy to find himself off-kilter while juggling a full-time master's of business administration program and a football schedule, however Owen is figuring it out.
As he pulls into the parking lot at Peden Stadium, Owen turns down the radio to focus before his workout. He greets his teammates and takes a few sips of water before the lift begins. It's not hard for Owen to lock in as he goes through the session. The only thing that pulls his attention is the giant plates clambering on the ground as his teammates also perform isolated movements.Â
Before Owen knows it, three hours have faded off the clock and he's on his way to the Muck Business Annex for his accounting class.Â
"Once COVID hit in undergrad, all my classes were online, and now it's back to in-person. I feel like I'm in high school again," he said. "We're in class from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. or 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. So that's a big difference. I'm getting used to sitting in class and paying attention for that whole time. Honestly, it's been pretty awesome just meeting new people and the program has been really fun."
An hour and a half of assets, liabilities and stockholder's equity swirls through Owen's head as he runs to Boyd Market for a Hawaiian Sunrise smoothie with whey protein. He's only got 30 minutes until he has to be in Copeland Hall for an analytics course.
His 882 receiving yards and counting this season don't quite make up the ground Owen covers in a day going back and forth from building to building. In the time it takes him to get across campus, Owen makes a few phone calls.
"I'll call my girlfriend or I'll call a friend from back home to make sure that I'm still talking to people, and asking others that I care about how they're doing," he said.Checking in on loved ones is one of Owen's favorite ways to destress throughout the day. If he can't reach someone, or he's relaxing at home, Owen will put on a show. His recent favorite is Prison Break.Â
Most of his spare time is dedicated to homework, though, and the other few extra free minutes Owen has are usually spent trying to get a meal in.Â
In the hour he has in between analytics and a professional development seminar, Owen typically dashes home for a quick meal of sun-dried tomato alfredo pasta with spicy ground turkey.
"My mom's made it for me since I was a kid, and now I have the recipe, so I make it all the time," he said with a grin.Â
The quick meal settles in his stomach as Owen heads back to the business annex for this week's seminar, a lesson on networking. While the session winds down, Owen finds himself drifting into his football mindset. The second the speaker dismisses the crowd, he has to go to Peden Stadium to change for a practice that has already started without him.Â
"I've caught myself multiple times walking back from class being so focused on what I just learned in class, and I need to flip (to football). Even sometimes when I'm putting my cleats on, running out to the field, I'm still kind of focused on some of those things," he said. "But then, in the same way, I'll be in class sometimes, and I'm focused about practice in an hour, and I'm not focused on what I'm learning. So I just try to be present in the moment."
The Bobcats have reached their bout of mid-week games and it's something Owen has never experienced before. Owen looks forward to embracing the change, though, even if it does mean altering his schedule a little bit. It's different leaving behind responsibilities in the middle of the week rather than at the end.Â
One thing does remains the same: Owen's commitment to good sleep. Even if homework or watching one last episode of a show keeps him up a little past his target bedtime, Owen still aims for quality shuteye. Â
"I try to get at least eight hours. I've been really trying to prioritize that," he said.
It's not an easy day, but Owen loves the challenge. When he lays down to sleep, he's thankful for where he is and for the day in the life he'll have tomorrow.Â
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