When I began applying to colleges as a senior in high school I thought I had my life figured out. I thought I knew what I wanted to be and exactly how I was going to get there. I wanted to go to college so badly and be an independent person who didn't need anyone else. Seeing my parents get divorced showed me that the people you think are going to be around for the long haul don't always end up that way. Seeing that happen as a 17 year old made me think I needed to create a life where I didn't need anyone else around me to get through the day. I so naively believed that I was going to be an individual who could do everything myself, like a biker who doesn't rely on those around him to cross the finish line but who can do it on their own merit. However, what I've realized after two full years at the University of Portland is that I can't do everything by myself; far from it. As much as I didn't want to believe it, i've realized that much like life, college is a team sport.
A team sport, college, what is this crazy girl talking about is probably what most people are thinking right about now. How could school, where you take tests on your own and write your own papers and you get one degree at the end, not a group degree, be a team sport. How could something that has things like majors to set you apart from others and GPA's to tell the university you attend how you do in your classes be a team sport...let me explain.
School is difficult. Teachers, who are like coaches, don't seem to understand that you're also in 5 other classes and have 5 other reading assignments to do along with 2 more papers and an exam this week. Nonetheless, they do seem to understand that they are there to teach you and much like a coach, help you when you make mistakes. However, they are not the only people to help you. That's where your teammates come in. Your friends, your tutors, your classmates, the barista at the coffee stand that helps get you through that three hour class, these are your team mates. They take the ball away when a defender is on you by the goal by helping you study for the test in physics that you're way behind in studying for. They block the tallest guy on the team when you're trying to score by giving you an extra shot in that latte because they know you need that extra kick right now. Your teammates are the people you send the online quiz answers to when you know they have 3 tests this week and in return, they send you a study guide for your midterm thats coming up in the class you both have.
Just because there is not necessarily a physical ball or a goal or a basket in this cruel and expensive game we call college, doesn't mean that the people you surround yourself with are any less than a team, your team. All of your friends, tutors, study groups, you're all going toward the same goal. It may not be a big shiny championship trophy to lift above your head to while singing "We are the Champions" but you can do the same thing with your diploma when the time for graduation rolls around. Regardless of the fact that while it technically, it is YOUR diploma, you may want to step back and realize that it was a team effort. Its not a bad thing to let other people in, to accept help and to give the people around you a shot. After all, the teammates you make in college are just as afraid as you and I both are about the game that is the real world after we graduate and lets face it; you're going to need as big a team as you can get to succeed in the game we call life.
