A Message Student Athletes Need To Hear | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Sports

A Message Student Athletes Need To Hear

You are worth more than what you can do.

70
A Message Student Athletes Need To Hear

As athletes, we come in to college, bright-eyed and bushy tailed. We have been playing our sports for fun during the last 15 years of our lives and now it's time to finally cash in. We have been preparing for these next four years our entire lives and we are ready, or so we thought.

But here is the thing they never tell you about college sports. The moment you sign your NLI, your life is not longer yours. What you eat, what you do in your spare time, how you spend your summers, how you spend your weekends, how much you sleep, how much time you spend on schoolwork, how often you see your family, the choice is no longer yours. For the next four years, you are making a commitment to be sold out, all in, for your teammates and the goals you have set for yourselves. Every choice you make has repercussions, for not only you, but the people you choose to battle with. So from here on out, you are a machine.

A machine that functions all year around for four years straight; you need to get fit in the off season, perform during season, recover and maintain during post-season. There is no time to be injured, have an off day, or take a break.

Your priorities are to be the best at your sport, maintain a competitive GPA in order to get into your program at your dream graduate school, have a somewhat normal social life, and eat and sleep at regular intervals. But you are you, so for sure you can do it all. And being a student athlete, you are probably goal driven, which leads you to organize your life into these categories. Everything you do in a day is designed to fit into its category, making you better in that area of life, and help you get that competitive edge.

Feel stressed out yet?

These are thoughts that go through a student athlete's head on a daily basis, and we wonder why so many athletes struggle with depression, anxiety, or eating disorders. We constantly strive for perfection, one day, one workout, one choice, at a time. We constantly measure ourselves, whether that is our weight or how much weight we can lift, our caloric intake or our caloric burn. We see numbers that reflect what we do every day and eventually, it is pretty hard to not feel that these numbers somehow reflect who we are.

Yes, we are student athletes, but no, we are not machines. We push ourselves on a daily basis, bending as far as we can, and sometimes we break. Sometimes, we realize just how human we really are. Sometimes, we need to just step back and breathe.

As student athletes, we need to remember that our worth does not come from our record and what we can do is not who we are.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
Relationships

The Unwritten Rules Of "Talking"

What is "talking?" How does one "talk?"

4255
girl holding phone
NYCPRGIRLS

Now that it seems “talking” is the new way to date, and will stay that way until another idiotic term is used to describe the people who can’t settle down and just date someone, I feel as if it’s time to go over the unwritten rules of “talking.”

Rule 1. Having feeling without feeling.

Keep Reading...Show less
The Stages of Having FOMO in College
iamthatgirl.com

Are you one of those people that gets super upset when you miss out on anything? Well, you may have FOMO, or fear of missing out. In college it’s not hard to experience FOMO every once in a while. You just love doing everything and anything, so hen you have to miss out on something it's the worst possible thing in your mind. Whether you’re sick, have to work, or have so much work to do you could cry – FOMO will hit you hard in college.

Keep Reading...Show less
Vivien Leigh
Revelist

I've lived a whole 21 years with an RBF (Resting Bitch Face), so naturally, I go through most of these struggles on a daily basis.

And before you ask, yes I'm fine. No, I'm not mad. This is just my face, so take it or leave it! To those of you who have been #blessed with an RBF, you'll probably relate to these more than you'd like to:

Keep Reading...Show less
Entertainment

Iconic Duos: Timeless Legends

From Luke and Leia to Beyonce's twins...

774760
Luke and Leia from Star Wars, a iconic duo
Lucasfilm

“Name a more iconic duo... I'll wait." OK, well, if you insist. In no particular order, here's a list of 100 iconic duos that seem to be timeless.

SEE MORE: This Is The ICONIC Disney Sidekick You Are To Your BFF, According To Your Zodiac Sign

Keep Reading...Show less
Relationships

A Candid Letter to My Best Friends Ex

Because this is the real form of torture you deserve.

1225
middle finger
Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash

What's up Asshat,

I've composed a list of things that I wish upon you, and they're harsh and cruel. These things are things that I wouldn't wish upon my worst of enemies, not even that Starbuck's barista who always screws up my order, not even him. You fall into a whole other category of hate. You surpass Starbucks barista. Congratulations, I'm actually a pretty nice person, making you worthy of every single bit of torture I wish upon you. What are these things I wish upon you you might ask?

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments