What does it mean to be a college athlete? In most cases, it means being completely exhausted and feeling like an old person because you are so sore 95 percent of the time. It also means that you are looked at differently, and that, along with everything else college brings, you have to add in 10 plus hours of practice a week — at least.

One of the many redeeming qualities of being a college athlete is the teammates. There are times when I ask myself: Why am I playing this sport I feel like I am killing myself to compete in? The answer I have often found is in my teammates: the girls who have to be up at 6 a.m. with me and who are there beside me getting gains and on the line for sprints.

Don't get me wrong, my teammates get on my nerves sometimes, but there is something incredibly special in the bond between teammates. They are there to see you at your absolute worst — when you’re exhausted and look like a mess — but they're also there when you finally get a move right or help your team to play better. There is something indescribable in the bond between teammates when you can feel all the synergies linked up toward a common goal.

I am so blessed because of my teammates. In them I have found some of my best college friends. My teammates cover a wide variety of personalities and types, and I love the diversity there. I don't always agree with my teammates and their life choices, but I respect each of them. In all of my teammates I have found different kinds of strengths, and through their strengths I have found the ability to do things I never thought I would.

The strength and ability has affected me in soccer, like wining a 50/50 ball or shaving seconds off my 120-yard sprint. However, it is so much more than that. I know that, above everything, my teammates have my back—and I find strength and confidence in that. I feel more confident in general knowing that I have a team that has my back. It's being out on the field and, honestly, suffering together that gives us the bond we now have.

I may not always want to play soccer, but I look at my teammates and I know that I can’t let soccer go. I have learned so much from them. They help me to decide which classes to take and which classes to drop; they allow me to use their old notes; they tell me which boys to stay away from; they reinforce my faith; and they challenge my introverted nature and so much more.

A lot of times, people rag on their teammates and carry all the on-field disputes off the field. While I may not always like what someone does or says on the field, I still love them off of the field. Also, in my teammates I have found such a great group of weirdos—people who I would normally be so scared to approach because they seem so together and cool. Really, they are amazing people who accept my weirdness too.

So, if you are a college athlete, I encourage you to look around you. The people you compete with are not just competitors: they are people and they have so much to offer you. Your teammates will always understand parts of your life that other friends can’t, and that is a blessing in itself — to have someone who understands you for who you are: a college athlete.