Its the beginning of the school year which means the start of practices are just around the corner. Whether its swimming or track, all athletes know the struggle is real. If you are doing a college sport then you probably have a lifetime of experience. Therefore, you know the annoyances that come with your sport. Below is just a small list of the many things that come secondhand with sports and I know that all college athletes have had to deal with these many times.

1. Early mornings

Nothing beats that feeling when your alarm is going off at five in the morning and you know that no other sane human being is doing this at the moment. You do this day after day but waking up never gets easier. To top off those great this mornings , don't forget that 8 a.m. class that you have to try to stay awake in.

2. Not being able to fit into anything

I would like to personally thank swimming for giving me swimmer shoulders. It is almost impossible to find nice shirts and dresses that don't cut off the circulation in my arms or that don't leave an indent. Let's not forget about thick thighs. It shouldn't take as much effort as it does to get jeans on. That's why leggings and a sweatshirt will always be my go-to outfit.

3. No free weekends

A large load of credits on top of hours of practices can make the week pretty busy, so why not have a little fun on the weekends to get your mind off things? Oh wait, you have games every weekend. When being on a sports team you sign up to not have a social life and you can't have a fear of missing out.

4. Naps

Do you ever feel like an old person sometimes? Try like all the time. I can barely get up the stairs and I can take anywhere from a 20-minute nap to a three-hour nap. Classes and practice combined can put athletes to sleep faster than a sleeping pill. In season, no matter how much sleep I got that night, you'll catch me taking a nap every day.

5. Having your slogan be "I can't, I have practice"

This is something I wish my phone could automatically send to people whenever they want to make plans. It would say "I can't, I have practice. Your friends want to go out to dinner, guess what? You have practice at dinner time. What about getting breakfast in the morning? No, you have practice then too.

6. Always hungry

We both know that the school meal plan isn't enough. So can someone tell me when there is going to be one specifically for athletes? Us athletes eat double the amount of calories that we should. Eating two of every meal is almost second nature.But that won't affect us because we will just burn it off at practice.

College is only four years, but sports will have your heart forever.