In an athlete's world there are not only months and seasons that define the year, but the two terms "season" and "off-season".

"Off-season"? If you went off the name you'd think that it's a time for a break from whatever sport the person plays, but oh are you SO wrong. Off-season is basically a season without games. This means plenty of workouts, meetings, and practices you do on your own for the fear of another person taking your spot.

So when do athletes actually get a break from it all? Well, my friends, let me introduce you to the magical world of "Off-weeks".

Off-weeks are the time when an athlete has no obligation to do anything related to their sport. No meetings, no practices, no workouts. It's really a glorious time to be alive as an athlete, I mean don't get me wrong we love what we do, but goodness that week is one of the best of the year.

Let's talk about having Z E R O sore muscles, not having to ice or heat multiple times day, AND it not being a struggle to get in and out of bed or sit on the toilet. Not to mention, having all this extra energy to put into things that are typically a struggle such as homework, studying, or anything school related honestly.

Speaking of homework... never have I ever done all my homework before 5pm unless it was during an off-week. Never have I ever had the free time to actually read my textbook that costs on average $100. And never have I ever had the time to get a homework assignment done a week in advance, UNLESS it was during a glorious off-week.

I mean, typically my homework gets done around midnight because first comes class, practice, dinner, post-practice relax session, I mean you get the picture.

Not to mention actually having time for a decent social life without having to feel guilty or stressed about spending time socially and not on a six-page paper that only consists of an MLA formatted heading two days before it's due.

This week leaves me wondering, is this what it's like to be a regular student? To not have three group messages going around about when and where practice is? To not have a different muscle sore everyday? To not have added stress like what's been up with your swing lately or how you're the only one who seemed to not get a hit today and now you're stressing about playing time?

This week always leaves me thinking why did I give up being a regular college student?

Then I see one of my teammates walking to class and I realize I haven't seen them all week and I legitimately miss them. Like how needy can I get, right? Then I think about how much fun I have with this team. How much fun it is to win with this team. How much fun it is to work everyday and get better with this team.

I didn't give up being a regular student, I got the opportunity to gain so much more from being a student athlete.

RIP to this year's off-week, I'm sure I'll be missin' ya mid December when I'm walking to practice at 5:30am in the freezing cold.