Life Of A College Athlete

     Being a college athlete you have to be focused, determined, patient, strong, willing, and much more. You not only have to put all your effort into school work and studying, but you also have to put all your effort into your particular sport. Going to workout, practice, class, getting your meals and sleep in, and getting all of your homework and studying done can be very stressful sometimes for the typical student athlete. I, for example, am a Freshman basketball player here for WMU and i haven't even been in school for a month and I have already been super stressed! Trying to balance everything in my life is difficult at some points because I feel like there aren't enough hours in the day. Basically my life, during the school week, consists of going to workout, going to class, eating, going to study tables, and sleeping! I don't have that much time to do fun activities or do things for me personally. I have to take care of that stuff on the weekend. Don't get me wrong, being a student athlete is more than fun and definitely worth it, but things can get a little crazy every once and a while. For example, I have a class directly after workouts on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so I don't really have time to get lunch. I either have to eat on the go or wait until later in the day. This isn't really good for me because being an athlete, I have to make sure to take care of my body and give it the right about amount of food and energy it needs in order to get me through the day. Not eating after workouts and waiting until later in the day is generally a bad idea! It not only leaves me super hungry, but it is also bad for my body! I am now learning to either pack myself a lunch or stop in the cafe really quick to get something to go. After workouts, all of my classes and getting some study table hours in, I still have to maybe finish homework and get more food in my system. Finding the energy to do all of this is sometimes a challenge for me because all my body wants to do after a long day like that is sleep! I try to tell myself that if I focus for a couple of hours and get everything done I can get to bed at a good time and get a some good sleep. I try to get into bed at a decent time every night because I know I need to be awake and ready to go the next morning! Everything that I have talked about may make being a student athlete sound really stressful and busy, but in reality it's not that bad! Yes, you are always going to be busy and have things to do, but I love being a student athlete. It's so much fun, gives me so many amazing opportunities, and has a lot of great benefits! Learning to deal with all of my responsibilities and getting my time-management skills on track is just part of the experience. With that being said, I definitely don't know what I would do with my life if it weren't for sports and playing basketball. It's what I live for and what I love to do.