I love sports.

It's incredible what the athletes do in the Olympics, isn't it? Sixteen year olds preforming on the biggest stage, earning medals and writing their name into history. As I sit on my couch eating my third slice of pizza, I think to myself how awesome our country is with all our amazing athletes.

As I reach for my fourth, I realize how blessed I am to be an athlete. I can afford to eat four pieces of pizza and not worry too much because I'll just work it all off. That's how that works, right?

So from many nights of watching the Olympics, I've been inspired. No, not inspired change my diet and workout routine. I can't afford to lose out on all my unhealthy foods. And don't even get me started on the thought of not doing curls and a couple sets of bench every day in the weight room.

I was inspired to write.

I want to write about how athletics has changed my life, made an impact, and made me a better person.

So without further ado, I would like to write about the ways sports have prepared me for student-teaching and one day, being a full-time teacher.

1. Early mornings.

As an athlete, I was never unfamiliar with early mornings. Whether it was the first practice of three-a-days, or an early morning lift session, I have had my fair share of 5:30 a.m. wake ups.

To be a teacher requires the day to start in the early morning. It's no different for a student-teacher as we must be in the school around 7:45 a.m. Although it won't be 5:30 every morning, I know my late nights of lesson planning and grading will make for long nights with little sleep.

So, instead of waking up for a few scoops of preworkout drinks, I'll have a large cup of black coffee that will be finished before the 20-minute drive to the school. Two scoops of preworkout is now two cups of coffee.

Large amounts of caffeine is nothing I can't handle.

2. Late Nights.

As a student-athlete, your day begins early in the morning but doesn't end early at night. I've spent many nights staying up until 3:00 a.m. finishing a paper and only getting in two hours of sleep so I can be up for 5:30 a.m. workouts.

I've also spent many nights going without sleep and still having a killer lifting session. So with a few cups of coffee, I'm sure my sleepless nights will be nothing to handle a troubled student. In fact, I know I'll be able to handle it.

I know for a fact I'll be able to handle going to bed at 4:00 a.m. only to wake up at 7:00 a.m. and have all my grading done, show up to school with a perky smile, and only have one meltdown during the day.

I know this because if I can handle not sleeping for 48 hours, a 5:30 a.m. lifting session with coaches getting after me, classes until 2:00 p.m., practice, and hours of homework, I can handle anything.

3. Time Management.

Once upon a time, I was able to go to early morning workouts, classes all day, practice, and hours of homework and STILL be able to have friends and have a social life.

Crazy! I know, right?

Student-teaching requires a lot of work, but it also requires a lot of time; therefore, being in sports has taught me time management is a very useful tool to master. It doesn't matter what will be thrown at an athlete, they find a way to manage it all because without sports, no scholarship. Without a scholarship, no sports, so it's really a do or die time.

For some crazy reason, I thought I could manage playing two sports and taking 17 credits in the spring semester. Why? I like a challenge. I mastered time management. Mostly because I would just stay up all night and not sleep. The less sleep I had, the more I was able to get done.

Now, I've taken on another challenge of student-teaching and playing football as well. Am I worried? Sure. I'm worried about how bad my bank account will take a hit. Am I worried I can't manage it all?

Absolutely not.

4. Criticism is Invited.

I never knew what it was like have be scared of a coach. I always thought to myself, "Oh, he can't actually do all those things he says he's going to do. Run until I puke? Nah, he doesn't have that much time. He needs to go home sometime." I thought that way until I got to college and met the real Coach Tatum.

This man, this coach, this... "yelly, scary, red-faced southerner" could put fear into anyone. After the first week of practice, I was convinced he wasn't joking when he said we would run until we puked. I also believed it when he said we will be out here all night. Thank God for the lightning that night.

But, one thing I've learned from all those scary coaches is that when they criticize you, it's not only to make you feel like the worst player to walk on the field, but it's also to make you a slightly less worse player. It's just to get you better.

That's what I kept telling myself to get through it all. Sounds good, right?

Well, when it comes to student-teaching, it happens to be the coaches turn into a supervisor. They may not be as "yelly" but they hold your future in their hands. Maybe you are not the greatest teacher just yet. But I'm not going to worry when I get a midterm evaluation that is three pages full of errors and suggestions for me to fix while teaching.

I'm not afraid to be told what I'm doing wrong. Sure, sometimes it's a hard pill to swallow, but so what? I invite the criticism so I can become a better teacher. In fact, it may be a nice change of pace to have a calm, gentle professor telling me I need to crack down harder on cellphone usage in the classroom.

I'm no where near a good teacher yet. I'm still a freshman in the teaching field. I haven't even started a JV game yet. But with some more help from my supervisors, I'll be whipped into teaching shape in no time.

Bring on the critiques. Hit me with your best shot. Heck, yell at me. You better believe I'll go into the next class hyped and ready to literally slam knowledge into the kiddos' minds.

5. Physical, Mental, Emotional breakdowns.

As an athlete, we are accustomed to nagging injuries. Some of us have even experienced pretty traumatic injuries such as ACL tears, concussions, and shattered legs. Our bodies break down in ways that we weren't quite sure were possible, but we managed to continue to play the game.

We also endure mental and emotional breakdowns. That we aren't strangers to. With all the stress of a big game, we may have a mental breakdown. There was also nothing worse than the emotions we all felt the final game of our high school careers.

Going through all of that has prepared me for what is to come with student-teaching. Maybe there won't be as many physical breakdowns compared to playing a game, but there might be a bit of an increase of mental and emotional breakdowns.

But I'm not concerned. In fact, I'm prepared for it. I can't wait to see what my first mental breakdown will be like. Will I actually emotionally breakdown so hard that I find myself in the bathroom stall of the teacher's lounge crying uncontrollably.

Yeah, probably not. I'm an athlete. The only acceptable time to cry is... never. They weren't tears, it was sweat.

I know I won't always be able to hold myself together, but I know I'll be able to pull myself out of those breakdowns, because like in sports, tomorrow is a new day. With God's blessing, I will wake up refreshed and dry eyed in search for a better day and a little bit stronger.

6. Bring on the Challenge.

One of the greatest aspects of sports, in my opinion, are the challenges the game brings. I have always found that challenges bring out the best in me. Tell me I can't do it.

I will. Unless it's about going on a diet and giving up good food. That's where you win.

Athletes are competitors. We love to compete. There is no such thing as a game for fun. It's all about winning, so we are always up for a challenge all of the time. We want to play ball non-stop and we want to win.

The challenge is a driving force for every athlete. Once we hear the challenge, we become sharks in the water and we smell blood. Student-teaching is a pretty big challenge, but there's no reason to treat it differently than any other challenge. It's all about owning the moment.

Yes, there might be a different approach, but just like in anything in life, using what you have learned from sports will allow you to pass with flying colors. Why? Because the competitor inside you refuses to let you just lose. It's going to suck, sure. But nothing is worse than not going down swinging for the fences.

7. The End.

I always find myself asking why I signed up to play football. I'm reminded why I love it so much every Saturday while playing. The physical and mental demand that it takes to be a college athlete or any level of athlete can often leave you questioning if it's worth it. The answer: yes, every single day.

When it's over, it's like life is over. We don't know what life outside of being an athlete is like. Now we are just average joes with a bunch of stories about playing ball. And who really cares that much to listen to you talk about the glory days...again.

Once it's over, we cannot get it back. We miss it more than anything and would do anything to get it back.

The end is a semester away for both student-teaching and football for me. I can imagine I will be a roller coaster of emotions when it's all over. I'll find out that I actually enjoy this crazy, hectic schedule of balancing everything in my life.

I'm telling you now, granted I actually pass student-teaching, the story I'll be telling my grandkids is about how I was able to manage both student-teaching and football. But you know, of course, when I'm telling it that I'll have to add that I also worked two jobs and still found time to do volunteer community service.

The end is inevitable, but when it comes, I'll be ready. When each season ends, a little piece of me leaves with it. The memories dwindle in time and the injuries finally heal, but the everlasting effect the experience has will always change me for the better.

The competitor inside me will never diminish, however. It's something I cannot control. I feel I am prepared for student-teaching thanks to dedicating most of my life to sports. Maybe some don't find the connection... but I do.

Thank you to the game that has been so good to me. My ankle may forever pop like crazy because of you, but at least I can manage my time and emotions a bit better.