MMSA's Student Spotlight for November is Thea Difesa

Can you describe your journey through sports?

I started my sport journey through a couple of summer bootcamps playing football with the boys. After that I started doing gymnastics. Unfortunately it only lasted a few years, until I got injured and had to stop. However, I continued pursuing this beautiful sport up until this day in my coaching career.

Meanwhile I continued training football. I'm proud to have led my team as a captain through three conservative knockout-league double wins. And I was also called up to play with the national team.

Finally, last year I started doing obstacle course race training that I haven't yet competed in, but aspire to compete.

How do you manage to balance your time?

Okay so what I do is make sure to plan things back to back, I avoid wasting time watching youtube videos as much as I can. Despite having a lot on my plate, I make sure to get enough sleep every day to have enough energy to keep up with everything.

How does sports help you in staying motivated and dealing with stress?

It helps me keep motivated in itself, since I enjoy it so much it gets my stresses off my mind.

What tips would you give to medical students in order to lead a more active lifestyle?

Plan ahead.

Split time between all your engagements and prioritize accordingly.

Enjoy what you do.