Being a college athlete is one of the best decisions I have ever made. Some of my best memories in college so far is with my teammates on and off the field. I wouldn't say there are many negatives of being a student athlete but there are definetally some real life struggles we encounter on the daily!

1. Morning workouts

We consider sleeping in getting to sleep until 5:30 am. I don't know about you, but that doesn't sound like much "sleeping in." Morning workouts especially are a struggle when you are up late studying the night before AND have to go to your 8 am class sweaty and feeling gross.

2. Dress code for practice

Most athletic teams always like to match, no matter the occasion. This is great because when you look good you feel good and you play good, right? That is true but what about when you are only given three shirts but have to be in dress code every day of the week? That means one of two things; One, you do laundry every other day, or two, you tough it out and wear your dirty shirt twice in one week. Gross!!

3. Dressing nice for class

The average college student will probably dress nice for class a couple times a week. For girls, this probably includes taking time to style their hair, put makeup on, and wear a cute outfit. For guys, this probably includes brushing their hair and wearing a nice shirt with jeans. Now, "dressing up" for an athlete is completely different. If you see an athlete wearing any article of clothing not related to their sport or a new pair of Nikes they are "dressed up."

4. Eating vs. workouts

Because we are athletes, we are constantly hungry. If there is food in front of us we will eat it no questions asked. Now, the daily debate is how much can we eat without getting sick at workouts the next morning? We must strategically plan out how much we eat at each meal and snack to ensure we eat enough but don't eat to the point it will come back up during your 30th sprint the next morning.

5. Stairs

One of the biggest struggles for us athletes are freak'n stairs!!! Nothing is worse than having to walk up four flights of stairs for a class after 2 hours of weights and conditioning!! Your legs feel like noodles, your caves cramp up, and you're tired. After the first set of stairs you really start to debate if that 8 am early civilization History class is worth the pain of those stairs.

Every athlete has their struggles whether is be dreading morning workouts or climbing a ridiculous number of stairs to get to class. No matter the struggles I think we can all agree we wouldn't trade the life of a student athlete for anything. It is such a special opportunity that should not be taken for granted.