When you’re a college athlete, you spend a ridiculous amount of time with your teammates. Most of the time you end up living with them because you have the same schedules, and sometimes you’ll even have a few classes with them. You’ll go to the gym and workout with them, and afterwards you’ll go and grab food with them. Obviously you practice with them, and occasionally you do homework with them. You’ll study with them and watch movies with them, and pretty soon, you’ll realize that you see them every single day.

Over the weekend, I went on a mystery team-building adventure that was organized by my volleyball coach. The team met at the gym at 6:30 a.m., and despite the fact that I got a total of four hours of sleep the night before due to a volleyball match and schoolwork, I couldn’t have been more excited. It is my third year as a college athlete, and I can honestly say that the excitement only builds with each passing season. The highlight of my day is when I get to spend time with my teammates, and this weekend I realized why.

As a college athlete, you have little free time. While it may not seem so, when you are playing your sport, that is part of your down time. You’re playing that sport and putting in those hours because it’s what you want to do. You choose to be a part of that team and you choose to spend that time with those people. You just have to make the most of it.

When I spent eight consecutive hours with my teammates this weekend, it didn’t take me long to realize that there was no place I would rather be. No, it wasn’t a part of my “free time” (my coach had carved out some time in our schedule in order to make this trip happen), but the time went by so quickly that before I knew it, it was time to go back to campus.

This weekend, I realized that there is no group of people that I would ever wake up at 5 am for than my team. There is no one I would rather be locked in an escape room with, climb large (and seemingly impossible) ladders with, go tubing with, or play five exhausting and exhilarating sets with. Those thirteen girls are my sisters, and we will forever be a family. When you’re a college athlete, you truly understand just how close you can be with people you are not related to. There will never be a group of people that I will appreciate as much as I appreciate my teammates, and they will always hold a very important place in my heart.

If you are a college athlete, you understand exactly what that feels like.