A narp at the University of Cincinnati is defined as a not athletic regular person, so basically anyone that does not play a varsity sport. I used to be on the other side of this, secretly dissing on the narps that got to live the life all the athletes wish they could experience just to make the athletes feel better about their busy lives. From the outside in it seemed like narps had so much free time to explore everything Cincinnati has to offer and actually got to experience and enjoy college aka “the best four years of our lives”. Now that I am apart of this category of narps, it is true; narps live the life. As an athlete I was unhappy, stressed out, and high strung. Being a narp has brought me freedom, happiness, and a new outlook on life. Not to say that I am plenty overwhelmed with my classes and student teaching this semester but I love life as narp.

Even though I was excited to get back to school I was still anxious about whether being back on campus would make me question my decision about giving up lacrosse. After a month into this school year, I am certain that I made the right decision for myself. Still living with my old teammates allows me to stay in the loop of their lives on the field and while I miss spending every second with all my friends, hearing about their days solidifies that I did indeed make the right decision. It also allows them to see my life first handed and now are even more jealous considering I get to sleep in until 8am everyday while they are up and at ‘em at 5:30am for practice. Even though this is a plus for me, my days are still plenty busy and while it is possible, I am very unsure how I could have balanced both school and sports.

This semester I began student teaching at a preschool. Being an early childhood education major is amazing. Many people may think that an educator is lesser but I feel my future profession is the most important job there is and it is a load of fun. No longer being an athlete gives me time and energy to put all my attention and focus on my school work and to the children when I am at the preschool. It is a demanding major and being a student athlete this year would have taken away what I needed to learn and practice what it takes to be a good teacher.

All my friends at school might still be athletes but I love doing my own thing and being my own person. Attending hot yoga everyday, having time and energy to complete school work, visiting my hometown friends on the weekends, and going home for a weekend whenever I feel like it is just how I want to live my life. While I used to make fun of narps because I envied their lives, now I am one and loving every minute of it.