College: A True Life Story

6 a.m. Wake up, Pre-calc, breakfast, Computer Science, workout session, lunch, Music Appreciation, rehab for my shoulder, special teams meeting, defensive film, practice, shower, quick dinner, study hall, homework, study hour, and finally around midnight my head rests comfortably upon my pillow. This is my monotonous day to day series of events. The monotony is also accompanied by fatigue in the classroom and strenuous activity. I would not like to come off as boastful by saying it is not easy to walk a mile in my shoes, but the ability to handle such a load comes with the title "student-athlete." The main difference between a student-athlete in highschool and a collegiate student-athlete is that the responsibilty on getting things done is at a higher price. Also, prioritizing plays a major role in the life of a college student-athlete. You must figure which priorities are most important and which ones henders your application to being successful. Your priorities should be organized in a fashion that stresses the "student" in "student-athlete" by figuring out a schedule that incorporates your workload that makes it easier to handle. Unfortunately, when you figure out the perfect agenda you remember that your have obligations to your team. These obligations include attending morning meetings when you could be grabbing a quick bit to eat for breakfast in between a classes, working out during the only hour you have free for luch to get the team better by bettering yourself, and more importantly devoting almost four hours a day to go over and excecute the things to defeat the opposing team of that week. The resulting schedule you get when you are done prioritizing may seem impossible, but it is your duty to be as close to perfect as possible when trying to get through the day. As a Division III athlete you get no financial backing through football, so the majority of the scholarships we recieve come through academic funds which reflect directly from our GPA. At times it gets tough and many fold under the pressure just as many of my fellow bulldogs have throughout the season so far, but those who stay even in the midst of this immense pressure are the most beneficial at the end of the day. Pressure is not always a bad thing; it weeds out the weak and brings forth the diamonds. Like I said before, "You gotta really love it."