I have been a soccer player and multi-sport athlete since I was five years old (I am twenty-two). Therefore, I know the challenges we student-athletes face, but I also know that the blessings and lessons you learn far outweigh more than anything else.

1. You learn outstanding time management

From balancing school, sports, work, studying, friends, family, and personal time, you become an expert at managing your time and prioritizing. I promise you, it is possible to balance all of these things, because I do it. It is not easy all the time, but being a student-athlete is worth the extra care you take into planning your days. This ability to time manage helps you exponentially in school and work when completing assignments. Being a student-athlete has given me amazing time-management skills, and I will forever be grateful.

2. You learn how to be a leader

Sometimes you are skilled enough as a collegiate freshman athlete to step onto the team into a starting role. When this is the case, you have to be able to step up and lead on the field quickly. I’ve seen how essential this is with one of my freshman defenders this year. She stepped into her starting role as a center back and was not afraid to lead, even if that meant telling the upper classmen what to do. Being a student-athlete has taught me how to be a leader, and this carries into other important parts of my life.

3. You learn how to make sacrifices

Being a student-athlete means you do not always get to go out on a Thursday or Friday night, because you have a game that Saturday. It means having a practice or game instead of going to a family or friend’s birthday party. It means studying instead of watching TV all night, because you want to keep up your grades so you can play the game you love. Being a student-athlete is worth every single sacrifice, because it doesn’t really feel like a sacrifice when you love what you do.

4. You learn how to communicate and collaborate

The best thing you learn is how to talk to people who can handle constructive criticism and who need to be handled more gently; you learn when to yell at a teammate and when to encourage them. You learn how to work together to achieve a common goal. This is so important in life, because you need to work with all types of people. Being a student-athlete gives you an amazing advantage in communicating with others, and it has taught me how to work as a team.

5. You learn how to trust other people

In many sports, especially soccer, it is not about individuals. You can have talented individuals on a team, but that means nothing if the team doesn’t work together and trust each other. I, luckily, have a team that plays better together than any I’ve ever seen. We completely trust each other out on that field, and it makes all the difference. “You can go faster alone, but you can go farther together.” Being a student-athlete has taught me that if you learn to trust others to help you along the way, you can go so very far.

6. You learn that you are stronger than anything life throws at you

If you’ve ever had an injury, you can really relate to this. Coming back from an injury as an athlete is one of the hardest things to do. You’re used to pushing your body to its limits, and then one day you are unable to run, or kick, or throw, or jump. Just like that, you are sitting out of practices and games, dying on the inside to be out there. You learn how to rise up from the ashes, to come back from devastation. You learn how strong you are when it is the only choice you have. Being a student-athlete has taught me that I am stronger than anything that is thrown at me.

7. You learn the power of the human spirit

I’ve never trained harder or been pushed to my absolute limits than I have as a student-athlete. Our trainer gives us a workout that seems impossible, and then tells us we still have five more rounds to go. Somehow, we not only survive it, we thrive. Our fitness tests are some of the most incredible things I have ever seen. You really learn the power of mind over matter. As a student-athlete, you learn the power of the human spirit. You learn that you are capable of the impossible; when it feels like you have nothing left, you are able to dig down deep into the bottom of your soul. You realize that you had that little extra the whole time. Being a student-athlete has shown me that impossible is not one word, but two: I’M POSSIBLE.

8. You learn when to speak and when to stay silent

During early morning practices or frustrating games, you realize how easy it can be to say the wrong thing to your teammate, ref, or coach. Gaining experience through the tougher times of being a student athlete, you learn that you do not always need to have the last word. You don’t always need to be right. Being a student-athlete, you learn when the right time is to speak and when it is time to stay silent. Even though you won’t always get it right, and you will still say the wrong thing sometimes, you also learn to admit when you’re wrong. It is one of the most important lessons you can learn.

9. You learn that you can get hit hard, but you can comeback even stronger

The game is 2-0 at the half and your team is down. Halftime is like a funeral, and you feel like you’ve already lost. Suddenly, one of your teammates gets a light in their eyes, and tells you it’s not over…you guys still have time. You can do this. You can win. You rally in the second half to win 3-2. This is a true story. It happened earlier this season for my team. Being a student-athlete, you learn that just when it seems like it’s over, you can still find a way to comeback and win, and you can become even stronger for it.

10. You learn who you are in the best and worst times

Whether you win a game 5-0 or lose a game in double overtime on a bad call by the ref, being an athlete teaches you who you are in the best and worst times of the game. It also teaches you how to deal with both of those times. It’s easy to be happy and supportive when you win, but it is not as easy when you lose. Over time, you learn to take something out of every loss, no matter how much it hurts. You learn how to move on when you’ve been crushed, and you learn how to stay motivated when you triumph. Being a student-athlete helps you discover who you are in these times, and how to become the person you want to be: the person who is supportive through a loss and raises the bar after a win.

11. You learn that a team is one of life’s greatest blessings

I have been on many different teams in life, with a wide variety of personalities. You learn that not everyone is going to have the same spirit as you, or the same way of looking at things. You need to understand that is okay. That is normal. How boring would it be if everyone saw things the same way as you? I can tell you one thing, and that is that your team wouldn’t get very far. Different perspectives are so important, as are different attitudes. While one teammate may be more positive and give the team a boost when needed, another teammate may know just when someone needs a kick in the butt with constructive criticism. One teammate may be a quiet leader and leads with actions, while another may know how to lead with words. Neither teammate is wrong. You learn to embrace the differences, because that’s what makes your team really great. At some point, you discover that being on a team is one of life’s greatest blessings.