Every college athlete understands what they are going into when they decide to give their life up to their sport. It's hard for the people who haven't done this to understand why we do it. We could just as easily give up what we love and live the easier life that other people live. In fact, that might be so much easier, considering everything that we would be leaving behind.
1. The early mornings
All the mornings we've had to give up to practices, tournaments, or finishing the homework that didn't get done the night before. Image how nice it would be to get to sleep in whenever you wanted, and not have to worry about how many alarms you have set, or if the volume of those seven alarms is turned up loud enough. But you know what, you can do that on your off day.
2. The constant stress
Thinking about how much homework you have to get done for anyone is daunting, but we have a game three hours away and won't be home until midnight. What if we had all the time in the world to get homework done and not have four mental breakdowns a week. Oh well, get it done on your off day.
3. The lack of a social life
Missing another big party tonight because you have practice tomorrow? Typical. The number of social gatherings we have missed definitely surpasses the number we have been able to go to. Maybe just one night to let loose and have fun? Maybe, if you want to throw away everything you have worked for. You can party all you want in the off-season.
4. The grueling workouts
From summer workouts, to preseason workouts, to conditioning practices: They are all equally intimidating. Over the summer maybe we could just run a little -- that should be a good enough workout. After all, we are already in really good shape. Come on, who's it gonna hurt? I'll tell you who it's gonna hurt: you, when your opponent blows past you, or you're on the bench never getting in the game. Do the workout.
5. The constant pain/soreness
Taking twice as long to get up the steps because who knows if your leg is still there. Picture a life without shedding tears every time you have to get in and out of bed, or almost falling right back over when you try to stand up. You could move around as fast as you wanted without having to worry about out legs coming out from underneath us, or having to walk five steps behind your friends because you can't keep up. Well, guess what, pain is temporary. It will go away.
6. The anxiety
Rough game the day before? Not getting things right in practice? The chances are high that at some point coach is gonna yell the one word that can make any athlete cry "baseline." Maybe tomorrow is the biggest game of the year and all you can do is panic. Being an athlete you're constantly worrying about what could go wrong. You don't have to do this to yourself, but you do because you love it.
7. The payoff
We torture ourselves throughout the season. Make sacrifices that some people could never imagine making. We live our lives in pain, always tired, always stressed, but there is absolutely no greater feeling than knowing that all the hard work and sacrifices have paid off. There will be plenty of time when our careers are over to do everything that we don't get to do know. Some of us only have a little bit of time left before our time is over. Don't complain, don't skip out, don't give up.
