I was not always the Netflix-obsessed, taco-eating, lazy college student. There was a time where the soccer field was my best friend (yes, the bench was on the soccer field) and running sprints was easy. Now that those days are far behind me, I see how I have made the far-too-swift transition from an athlete to a college lazy ass.

I know many students who have encountered this lifestyle change. We were once committed athletes, sometimes in more than one sport, often all year round. Decisions had to be made, and sometimes being a college athlete just wasn’t in the cards. Whether this was what we wanted or not, changes had to be made and we had to accept them; it’s a part of life. What we didn’t realize were the changes that were going to occur.

We eat way worse.

For many, athletics ruled our lives, including what we ate. I knew female athletes that were on strict diets for their sport. Avoiding high-fat anything and fast food, our bodies thrived on food that would only propel our performance in our sport. But, I have to say that I’ve never seen more food consumed than I did on an evening where I had the experience to eat with a Division I basketball player. It was amazing.

These days, my diet consists of Erberts & Gerberts sandwiches, Diet Coke, and Qdoba when I’m partaking in “treat yo’self.” Quite the switch from the sports days.

We run a lot less.

Running is a basic in regards to athleticism. Not saying all athletes need to be good at running, but many, if not all sports benefit from running. Running ladders, doing windsprints, crying because your legs are sore from running; running is involved.

Sometimes I’ll run from my car to the taco restaurant if it’s cold, but besides that, running as a non-athlete college student is at a minimum.

We never cheer. (Unless we’re cheering for actual athletes.)

All of those cute and peppy cheers we learned on the bench? Yeah, those aren’t really used in your day-to-day life after that. It’s kind of like algebra; you needed to know them at the time because it’s just what you did, but in the real world, you don’t need it at all. I can’t remember the last time I screamed the softball chants I learned in third grade.

Lingo is not the same in the real world.

Never say “go shag the balls” like you did at volleyball. Never.

It’s not always easy making the transition from a year-round athlete to a lazy-ass college kid. We often miss the competition and the teamwork. It’s something that our lives revolved around for so long that it can be difficult to adjust what made us athletes into something useful for the world beyond those days. I’m grateful for the time I was an athlete. But, being a full-time college kid isn’t too bad either.