Student-athletes at any university have a very tough time balancing academics with athletics. They find themselves staying up late to study for long hours and then waking up at the crack of dawn to train for their sport. Junior volleyball player Kortney Robinson is well aware of the sacrifices it takes to be able to do both, but she has one more thing to balance on top of her marketing and management majors and her role on the volleyball team: Robinson is a single mom.

Even with this huge responsibility, Robinson still realizes the amazing opportunity she has at Georgetown and is grateful for her experiences.

“My favorite thing about Georgetown academics is . that everywhere you go, you will find someone with a different opinion,” Robinson says. “I didn’t appreciate this until now, but being in this city and seeing the bigger picture is such an opportunity for someone.”

The Georgetown volleyball team recently finished its season with a record of 14-16. Robinson has been a member of the team for four years and will technically become a senior in December. She is a key asset to the team and plays the outside or right side hitter. She is known for her hard kills and high enthusiasm while on the court. In fact, she ranks in the top three on the team in many statistics, both offensively and defensively.

“There have been both positive and negative things to come from this season,” Robinson says. “I think we could have done a lot better than we did. However, we had huge wins this season against teams we have never beaten, such as St. John’s, Cincinnati and Maryland. During these games we left a lot out on the court.”

Being a student-athlete is a challenging experience, but Robinson says that she loves her team, and it makes her entire experience as a college athlete that much better.

“This year’s freshmen are so sweet,” Robinson says. “There really was a sense of a big sister-little sister bond this year. The best part about Georgetown volleyball is definitely [my teammates].”

On top of all the pressures and responsibilities of being both a student and a Division-I athlete at Georgetown, Robinson has one other “small” thing that limits the scarce amount of free time she does have.

On Aug. 30, 2008, Robinson gave birth to a blue-eyed baby boy named Christopher.”I love being a mom!” Robinson says, and her entire face lights up when she hears his name. “I can have the crappiest day ever with school and volleyball, but as soon as I come home and see him, my entire bad day is wiped away in a moment.”

One can only imagine how busy Robinson must be. Take your normal class schedule, add on a Division-I varsity sport and then add an 18-month-old baby. You think your schedule is busy? Let’s look at her usual Monday.

6:00 a.m. – Wake up

6:15 a.m. – Feed Christopher

6:30 a.m. – Wait for babysitter to arrive

7:00-10:00 a.m. – Volleyball practice

10:15-11:30 a.m. – Class

12:00-12:30 p.m. – Tape a show for “Hoya Insider”

12:30-2:30 p.m. – Go home, eat lunch and play with Christopher

2:30 p.m. – Babysitter returns

2:40-5:30 p.m. – Class

6:00 p.m. – Go home, eat dinner and feed Christopher

7:30 p.m. – SAAC Meeting

8:30 p.m. – Bath, bottle, book and bed for Christopher

8:30-11 p.m. – Study

How does someone balance a schedule like this?

“It is very hard to deal with this type of schedule on a daily basis,” Robinson said. “My class schedule is grouped. I only have classes on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I try to keep everything in one block of time – whether it be classes or group meetings. Volleyball is usually right before class, so I schedule nannies and babysitters ahead of time in order to have everything in order. When I go home I want to focus on Chris, so everything else needs to be done.”

Robinson talks about how she loves everything that comes with being a mom. She says that when she comes home, Christopher might be upset for a few minutes because she was gone all day, but soon he smiles and everything is OK again. To her, the little moments with him, like his smiles and laughter when she reads him his favorite book, “Curious George,” allow her to embrace this experience with open arms.

“This whole experience has taught me what is really important,” Robinson said. “The things I worried about before Christopher don’t matter anymore.”

Robinson is very aware of the feelings some people at Georgetown have about her being a single mother. However, she has many supporters and feels loved by many people.

“I feel that some people heard what had happened and were waiting for me to fail,” Robinson says. “But I think that overall, after seeing me balance everything and realizing that there haven’t been any hiccups in the matrix, so many people have become very supportive of Christopher and me.”

Robinson is looking forward, as she will be a senior come December. She has one more season of volleyball left at Georgetown and is ready for the Hoyas to hit their stride during her last year playing the sport.

“Am I sad that volleyball will be over? Well, yes and no,” Robinson says. “I’m sad because it is my last year playing and once you’re an athlete, you’re always an athlete. But I’m excited to move on and to see what else I’m good at.”

After graduating in December 2010, Robinson hopes to pursue a career in communications or journalism. Overall, she says she wants to be happy in whatever she is doing.

“My end goal changes on a daily basis, but my end mindset of being happy never changes,” she says.

Robinson is excited to embark on her final year at Georgetown, and she feels that she has everything she needs – Christopher just adds more light to her world.

“I am the happiest I’ve ever been in my entire life,” Robinson says. “People might look down at my situation, but how could I? Look at my son and how beautiful he is!”

And once spring semester rolls around, Robinson and Christopher will be spending many afternoons out on Copley Lawn playing and reading “Curious George.”

“Don’t be afraid of us!” Robinson says with a smile. “Come over and say hi to us. He loves everyone, and he is such the social butterfly!”

eredith Cox is a senior on the women’s basketball team and a consistent contributor to Hoya Insider. Inside Look appears in every other Friday issue of Hoya Sports.”