It’s important for many postsecondary students to find the balance between academics and work. A student who knows this all too well is Travis Samuel. This second-year Trent University student studying a joint major in Business and Economics balances the demands of his Trent education with a career on the rise in the world of professional road cycling.

For the past three years, Mr. Samuel has been racing around the world as a professional cyclist with the H&R Block Pro Cycling Team. Throughout the 2017 season, Mr. Samuel was able to achieve a number of top performances including fifth place at Grand Prix Cycliste de Saguenay and fifth place on the prologue of Vulta a Portugal where he wore the best young rider jersey. Now, as he begins to look ahead to a new cycling season with a new team after recently signing on to join Silber Pro Racing, he is beginning an exciting time in his cycling career.

“Being a new guy on Silber, I want to show that I can be one of the leaders amongst their roster and start to bring in top results for them right from the start of the season,” says Mr. Samuel.

As he begins to look ahead to an exciting new season of racing, Mr. Samuel is also looking ahead to a new semester at Trent where continues to set high goals for the next academic year.  

“My academic goals are still to hold the highest GPA I can, putting 100 per cent into projects and papers,” he says.

He says that since applying to Trent University, the staff and faculty have been helpful in allowing him the opportunity to pursue a professional cycling career while beginning his studies at Trent. With the support of Champlain College academic advisor Tina Fridgen, Mr. Samuel has been able to plan ahead and work with his professors to still meet his deadlines and move forward with his joint major.

For other students who are looking to find a better balance to their studies, Mr. Samuel suggests finding out what supports are available at Trent and to always be looking ahead in the calendar and preparing accordingly.

“As a student, you first have to realize that there are options out there to help you out with anything you need,” says Mr. Samuel. “You just have to be willing to put in the time, explore the options, and work ahead on everything.”