Any student athlete knows that it is not easy. It's not easy dealing with your school schedule, possibly work schedule, practice schedule and any other organization you might be involved in. If you are a part of other student organizations, honor clubs, Greek life or having to maintain a certain GPA to keep a scholarship, sometimes it can get really hard.
As a member of the dance team at my university, it is always a struggle to eat dinner with friends, get homework done, run errands, watch Netflix, enjoy free-time, etc. Dancing is one of my passions and being a member of a colligate team is basically a dream come true, but there are constant pros and cons.
Some days it doesn't seem worth the countless hours of rehearsal, injuries, exhaustion and missed adventures with friends. Then there are days where I would not want to be anywhere else in the world. Yes, it's beyond the definition of hot rehearsing in 105-degree heat index in the humid weather of Mississippi, and yes, it's dealing with visits to the athletic trainer for therapy before practice and then having to ice your ankles and knees for hours that night.
But it's still getting to do what you love. The thrill of being a part of something so much bigger than yourself is unlike anything else ever experienced. Standing under those stadium lights with thousands of spectators watching you, your team, the marching band behind you... there's nothing else like it.
Not to mention the material benefits of it. Number one there is a scholarship that greatly helps out with tuition costs, which is an answered prayer. People recognize you; when you walk around campus people recognize your face as the girl on the dance team, and they think it's just the coolest thing to know someone who stands out there on game days. It gives you connections. You know more administrative people who can put in a good word for you for future jobs, on-campus jobs, or anything of that nature. After graduation, those connections will remain and you will be known as an alumni of the team and able to benefit from that status as well.
But it's not all materialistic. It helps you become more of a people person because you are constantly representing not only yourself, and not only your team but your entire university, and that alone is a huge honor. You must hold yourself to a higher standard and hold yourself accountable for yourself, your team, and your university.
Being on the dance team in college is one wild ride; being any student athlete in college is one wild ride. But I wouldn't change it for the world.
