One of the toughest decisions athletes have to make as high school graduation approaches is whether or not to continue their sport at the collegiate level. Personally, the choice I had to make was whether or not to continue my softball career at Ohio Northern. Despite the many sacrifices necessary to play collegiate sports, there are many benefits that make the experience especially rewarding. Now that I have a year of college softball under my belt, I can confidently say that these are some of the benefits of playing a college sport.

1. You are guaranteed to have friends right off the bat.

Gone is the fear of going to college and struggling to make friends. You automatically have a group of people who have no choice but to be around you. Odds are, you'll find someone you connect with.

2. Student-athlete perks.

These vary from school-to-school, but personally, I was able to schedule my classes earlier than my non-athlete friends because I needed to be able to work around practice times.

3. Keeps you in shape.

You may still gain the freshman 15, but it will be 100% muscle.

4. Teaches you valuable time-management skills.

Time-management is arguably the most important skill necessary for success in college. When you have to balance classes, homework, games, practices, and more, you are forced to learn this skill FAST.

5. Something to put on your resume.

If an employer sees that you were a collegiate athlete, they automatically know that you have the ability to work hard in a team-oriented environment and that you know how to manage your time.

6. Scholarships.

Unfortunately, this only applies to the Division I and II levels. Nonetheless, scholarship opportunities will keep you out of debt upon graduation.

7. Connects you to upperclassmen who have been in your shoes.

Oftentimes, you will have older teammates who have taken the classes you're currently in already. There's plenty of time on team bus rides where they can share their old notes or tutor you.

8. Alumni connections.

Alumni of your sports program can provide connections to future job opportunities.

9. Sports at the college level are much more intense.

College athletes all have one thing in common: they all have a passion and competitive drive for their sport and truly want to be there. Otherwise, they wouldn't be willing to make the necessary sacrifices to compete at the college level. This makes the playing field much more fun and competitive.

10. Travel opportunities.

You most likely have already experienced the awesome nights staying in hotels with your teammates. In college, there are even more travel opportunities. For example, Ohio Northern's softball team gets to go to Florida every year for spring break. Other teams even get to travel out of the country (Ohio Northern University's football team went to Italy and Greece this year).

11. It's FUN!

You have four more years to play the game that you've loved your whole life. What could be better?