Being a D3 athlete is not easy by any means. In fact, Division III athletes are probably some of the hardest working students out there. We have a so many things on our plates and about a hundred things on our minds on any given day.

Mornings are not for sleeping in. We rise with the sun to go to practice to do continuous reps for hours on end. We’re exhausted and we’re groggy because we were up late the previous night catching up on homework. And we have to maintain our GPA’s otherwise we won’t be allowed to participate. We consume coffee, granola bars, and whatever food we can get our hands on because we need calories to replenish the ones we burned off. We have to resist the temptations of cupcakes, greasy foods, and sugary drinks for favor of water. We have gone through countless water bottles and we can always use more.

When it comes to games, our teams are our number one fans. Never mind the student body coming out to support unless there’s promise of food or some other benefit than seeing us out there on the field or track tearing it up.

We don’t get the best equipment or the most funding for athletic programs because we’re D3 but in the end, we appreciate everything we get because everything has been provided. The performance is the real prize.

We put 100% effort into our sport with no scholarship or any sort of compensation. But here’s the thing: we don’t think about what we’re not getting because in the end, the game is all that matters. We play our sport because we love the challenge. We wouldn’t have it any other way. Yeah, we don’t air on ESPN or get national coverage. We might not even get that much attention from our own school and there are times when we feel underappreciated and our hard work goes unnoticed. But we take pride in the sports we play.

Being a D3 athlete is not easy by any means. It will push you to limits you didn’t know you can reach and will push you beyond them.