Being a student athlete has its ups and downs; however, being a D3 student athlete creates a whole new world of struggle. That being said, most D3 athletes wouldn't trade it for the world.

Here are 13 real struggles of a student athlete:

1. You're expected by the school to put your classes first always. You're expected by your coaches to put your sport first, always.

2. No one wants to be your partner in class during season because they know you'll never be around. (Maybe we can have a FacetTime date on Wednesday night from 9:00 to 9:45?)

3. Everyone assumes you're stupid, however, student athletes generally hold a higher graduation rate and GPA.

4. You can't get a scholarship for all your hard work and dedication.

5. You spend hours upon hours on practice and school work and when you finally make it back to campus all the cafeterias are closed.

6. You spend all of your money on food and gas because you're always traveling to practice and practice makes you hungry.

7. Everyone is surprised when you wear real clothes. (It's not my fault I never have time to go change when I have to go from class, to lift, to practice.)

8. You have to put up with that one teammate that insists they're going to go pro.

9. You had more people come watch you play in high school. Now you're lucky if all the parents show up.

10. Never having WiFi on trips to keep up with all the class work you're missing.

11. Again with the no WiFi... you watch the same movies over and over. Nolan Sanders, Berea College Baseball admitted that his team, "Watch[es] the same four old baseball movies, all staring Kevin Costner, except one time we watched Pitch Perfect and had a team sing along."

So basically, the life of a college athlete is pure struggle, but it is a struggle we love. Majority of college athletes are beyond thrilled with the opportunity to extend the time they have playing the sport they love. The time, dedication, sweat and hunger is nothing compared to the reward you receive when signing onto your college team.