COLUMN: First year as college athlete leads to new experiences
In the famous words of Charles Dickens, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”
After completing my first season as a college swimmer, I’ve found that being a college athlete is a lot like riding a roller coaster — there are many ups and downs when it comes to athletics. It sucks, but it’s one of the most rewarding experiences I’m likely to have in my life.
From the time I was 9 years old, it was my dream to someday become a Division I athlete and my entire life was centered on achieving this goal. Ten years later and a dream come true, mixed feelings have ensued after my first season of college swimming.
As an outsider looking in, the life of a college athlete may almost look glamorous. Free clothing, first pick at classes, scholarship money and many other benefits do come with being an athlete at the Division I level. Yet, life as a student athlete is full of sacrifice and difficulties.
One of the greatest things that comes with being a college athlete is the free clothing. Everyone likes free stuff and athletes get a lot of it. Pants, shorts, shoes, shirts, jackets — the university guarantees its student athletes have plenty of clothing to represent the school and their sport. It’s like Christmas in August.
Additionally, between practice of the sport, weight lifting and conditioning, college athletes are in the best shape of their lives. With all resources available, it’s impossible not to be incredibly fit. While most college students worry about the “freshman 15,” college athletes never have this worry and it’s awesome.
Despite this, exhausted doesn’t even begin to describe how tired a student athlete is, and the fatigue never goes away. A day when I had time for a nap was the best day of my week, and a night I received more than seven hours of sleep was a gift sent from the heavens. The difficulty of workouts a college athlete has can only be understood by other college athletes. Certain practices are so hard, they practically cause PTSD and nightmares.
While practices are insanely difficult, getting to play a sport in college is an amazing opportunity and one that not many people are given. There’s no way anyone could put so much time and effort into a sport if they didn’t love it. College athletics allow students to peruse their passions at higher levels.
This love for a sport obviously takes up a significant amount of time and can make some student-athletes feel as though they’re missing out on certain college experiences. Between living with teammates, multiple hours of practice in a day and practices and competitions on the weekend, it can make athletes feel isolated from other students. While everyone is going out on weekdays, or even Fridays, athletes are usually in bed or doing homework.
Athletes are sometimes forced to be awake late at night in order to finish school work. School is hard and after a 5:30 a.m. practice, the only thing on an athlete’s mind is sleep. Unfortunately, a full day of classes is what follows, then followed by another practice.
When so much of they day is taken up by athletics, getting school work done is increasingly more difficult. Not to mention the make-up work required after missing class due to sports. Not all professors are understanding or lenient.
Even with the hard practices, sacrifices and added stress and pressure, I wouldn’t trade it for anything. What I’ve achieved is something no one can ever take away from me.
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Swimming isn’t just a sport for me. It’s the reason I am the way I am and the memories, life skills and amazing people it has connected me with makes all the hard work worth it.
