By Condie Pugh
Sports Intern
As anyone could imagine, being a student athlete at the college level takes a special type of person. From personal experience at a division three college it’s been quite the journey, as I nearing the mid way point of my final semester the sense of accomplishment can become overwhelming sometimes. Knowing everything that I have been through the past four years to get here makes you feel like you can accomplish anything life may throw at you. Being in College of course can be physically and emotionally challenging in its own right but when you throw in all the other requirements that need to be done from a athletical standpoint as well is what can make someone quit. With all this being said there is also a third element that ties into all this which is your social life. I feel as if in college your social life is very minimal with the outside world, because if you are in college then most likely you are away from home. So really the people you become friends with are people you usually interact with in your school life or during the time of you athletics.
Being a student athlete at the college level is one of the most physically barring things your body can go through. From early morning workouts to late night meetings with practice and weight sessions all between it is not for the faint of heart. But if you eat a well balanced diet and get the proper amount of sleep at the age you are in college your body should form a routine around how your day should go. It may sound easy but it’s not, nutrition is the most important thing. “What you put into your body, is what you get out” is a famous quote that I’ve heard from every coach I’ve ever had. I feel that this is preached so much because it is really important when aiming for the best results with no drop off. So at the end of the day I feel that everyday you have to make a choice at some point that your body is more important than anything you might be wanting to do for fun.
With all that being said the title is “student athlete” with the “student” coming first, so it is always important to stay on top of your grades. Professors are very unforgiving and late work is not tolerated nor accepted. At the college level I don’t think the degree of difficulty of the work changes too much. I think the urge of procrastinating is just a little bit stronger because you aren’t confined to a classroom for a whole day. This is very important to manage because the physical stress of a student athlete can sometimes cause us to push school work to the afterburners and eventually you’ll find yourself in a hole. In college you have no one reminding you when things are due so if you miss it you get a zero, no questions asked which is why it is important to keep an accurate schedule of when things are due. I feel this is the most important because if you don’t pass you don’t play and to get a degree is the reason you are in college in the first place.
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