Virginia Military Institute’s cadet-athletes have to juggle cadet life, heavy academic course loads, and their NCAA Division I sport. Committed to both academic and athletic pursuits, balancing their rigorous schedule in both sports and school requires a certain level of commitment and discipline. Behind the Balance is a series that focuses on those cadet-athletes and how they handle the hurdles of the day-to-day. 

LEXINGTON, Va. Feb. 18, 2025 — Since the age of 5, Cole Jones ’26 has been playing lacrosse. It’s a good mix of several sports, he said.  

“It brings every other aspect of sports into one. I played football when I was little, which is super physical, but it's not as fast paced. I always played basketball. It's kind of a mix between those two ... physical and fast paced.”

The constant go of the game is also like his fast pace in his everyday life at Virginia Military Institute.  

Cadet-athletes at VMI not only have their responsibilities with their selected sport but cadet duties on top of that. Cadets are also required to take physical fitness classes twice a week, participate in ROTC all four years, prepare for room and uniform inspections, practice for parade, guard duty, and more. 

His priorities have changed since coming to VMI. He finds that he is more focused, especially with the structure he’s had to maintain. Thankfully, during times of struggle in keeping up, he was able to lean on his dykes and brother rats for support.  

"If you have a ton of free time — something they told me — then you're probably doing something wrong,” Jones said. “There's always something that should be getting done, whether that's just extra readings, catching up, getting ahead on work, or studying.” 

The international studies major is set to commission into U.S. Army once he graduates.  Jones explained that his duties with ROTC and lacrosse go hand-in-hand.

"The physical fitness aspect of it, it's good, so I don't have to really work out as much on my own because of going to practice and doing team lifts. Then the ROTC cadre are pretty flexible and understanding that if you miss things for sports, they'll give you times to make stuff up or extra instruction periods and things like that.” 

In high school, Jones was focused on lacrosse and hanging out with friends. Coming to VMI, he became more school focused.  

"When I got here, my dad, who went to West Point, always told me school's no joke. It's not like high school. You actually spend time on it. I was really paranoid coming here about school work, and then I just kind of hit the ground running. I realized if I want good grades, you can't slack, you have to devote at least a few hours a day to working on homework.” 

VMI is a different college experience, but it’s allowed him to see how a stacked schedule will be once he’s out of school. He’s learned how to maximize his time for what he needs to get done.  

“Our coach always says, once you get on the field, leave everything else up on the hill and just focus on the sport and practice that day,” Jones stated. "Everyone has their tough days and going down there with your whole group of guys, getting just to compete every day ... it's always awesome." 

Being part of a team — on and off the field — has allowed Jones to understand prioritizing things. 

"Our coach also reminds us to control the things that you can control. There are definitely times where I get stressed out, and then I just kind of stop and lean back. It's like, well, I have this thing that's due tonight. Focus on that. And then, just one thing at a time. People here will say, just focus, especially as you're a rat, it's just one meal at a time. So, get to the next meal, get to the next day, the next assignment, whatever that is, just work one step at a time." 

Laura Peters Shapiro
Communications & Marketing
VIRGINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE