Whether or not to run track and cross country was never really a question for me. I always knew how much I loved running and how I couldn't let my running career end after I graduated high school. My entire life consisted around my track meets and practices. I couldn't imagine a life without the sport. For those of you who are considering continuing your sport in college, here is why I chose to continue running in college.
My teammates in high school were some of my best friends, and they are one of the reasons that high school was such a great experience for me. I knew without being on a team in college, it would be a little bit more difficult for me to make friends. When you are on a team in college, you instantly have a whole new friend group because you are with one another seven days a week. Your teammates in college will become your new best friends within weeks of your freshmen year. They not only will be your friends and teammates, they will be your family and support system. You are all away at college without your families, and this is why your teammates are so important to you.
College sports are nothing like high school sports or clubs. It is a much different experience because you spend so much more time with your college teammates than you did with your high school teammates. Unless you were best friends on and off the track or field with your teammates, you will completely understand this when you get to college. Your college teammates will eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner with you. Some of them will be in almost all of your classes, and you will be working your asses off together to better yourselves for the team as a whole, seven days per week.
Sports give you a sense of purpose. There is something that truly is special about being a part of a team in college. You feel like you just instantly belong, and you will always have people who will back you up, no matter what. Your teammates want you to be your best not only for yourself, but for them, and that gives you a sense of worth. This is by far one of the most important things that has come with being on a team in college, in my opinion.
Sports will keep you in shape. Everyone is afraid of the "freshmen 15" in college, but trust me, if you are going to be a college athlete, you will not have to worry about this. Being on a team can be the most wonderful thing in the world, but it definitely has it's sacrifices, but your body's health will thank you for it in the long run.
Lastly, you have been passionate about your sport for as long as you can remember, and that it not going to change when you get to college. If you don't try your sport in college, you will 100 percent regret it. All I am saying is that if you love the sport you play enough, you should give it a shot in college. You will not regret it.
