5 Things You Learn When You’re A College Athlete
By Taylor Moore
Throughout high school, you have been given all of these awesome ideas of what college will be like, and for some reason when you get there, it is totally different. Yes, they got the whole free time thing correct or the dining hall makes you sick, but they didn’t prepare me for what the other aspects of college consist of. After being here only a month this is what I have found out:
1. Being a college athlete has more perks than you think. Of course I have 6:30 am practices, but all of the athletic boys have such an interest in the new freshman girl on the soccer team and their eyes cannot stop staring.
2. The problem with that is when you let even one boy in, you get lost. You spend all of your time with him and eventually you fall for him. The thing is, this is college and they are not falling for you the way you think they should be. They are falling for the sleepovers or the way you stroke their body as they lie next to you. They are more interested in what lies under your pants rather than the brains under your skull. You would think that it would take more than a month to figure this out, but I realized this the first day I was here. These athletic boys think they are big shot somebodies, when in reality they are nobodies.
3. But all hope has not been lost. Parties have taught me one night hookups can turn into great friendships. Athletes have this sense of attractiveness to each other and when you kiss an athlete, you see them everywhere. In a way, you are forced to befriend them, but sometimes it makes you realize you were wasting your energy on the wrong boy, when the right boy was right in front of you. I know I am not marrying these kids, but as I said, there is a lot of free time so you might as well have someone to spend it with.
4. Forget high school friends to be honest because my college teammates make me feel more wanted than ever before. You have to be okay with yourself because your teammates want you there. It’s hard to imagine the first day of preseason knowing that you have a bond with 20 other girls, but that feeling is so real and invigorating. Always having plans on the weekends or someone to talk to when they know you are feeling down is such an indescribable feeling that only I think happens as a college athlete.
5. Teachers have a love-hate relationships with athletes. We miss a lot of class, but we are tempted to sit in the front row and ask the most questions because of the standards and work ethic we have for ourselves. It’s better to be an active class participant, than the quiet one in the back of the room and being the athlete in the class has given me a confidence boost 10x more than high school ever did. You are set apart and teachers understand and acknowledge all of the work we do to balance out our lives.
While you try to make the decision to play a varsity, club, or intramural sport while attending college; DO IT. It doesn’t matter how good you think you are, if the team trusts you, then you belong. It took me until college to realize that I do belong and I am glad I did.
College isn’t a walk in the park, but more like an uneven trail with the mountain at the end, ready to be climbed and I am enjoying the view.