Sports in college have their perks. You could look at it from two angles. One, being that you know about every party that's going on, you have a group to go out with, and you may or may not be treated differently by the school/professors. The other angle, the reason I decided to play sports in college, would be this:

- Friends

Playing a sport in college gives you instant friends. Regardless of what division school, or even what sport, with a team comes a family. You don't have to enter college completely alone, and you have people with similar interests to fall back on. Personally, I was really worried about making friends in college but because of lacrosse, I have my own group of friends which I am truly thankful for. Of course, this doesn't mean that all you have to do is hang out with this team, but it's a great starting point for socializing and branching out for the first time.

- Focus

Okay. Let's be real, college is a completely different world. I've only been here three days so I am definitely not an expert yet. There's freedom. Now, thankfully, back at home, I had a lot of freedom to begin with, so I can't say this is too different. With this freedom comes distraction. All of a sudden a party is more interesting than a paper due on Friday. This is exactly what I wanted to avoid. Lacrosse will keep my schedule in order, ensuring that I have no time to mess up or make a mistake. This would be a main reason that I decided to play a sport in college.

- Freshmen 15 (or 50)

There is not a chance in hell that I would let myself gain the freshmen (insert ridiculously high number). I've worked so hard this past year to get in shape and I wasn't about to let college take that away. Playing a sport will keep me where I want to be. Which could possibly the best shape of my life, but I shouldn't get ahead of myself. Yeah I could've found the motivation to avoid this without playing a sport, but lacrosse is my long-time passion so this is merely a great perk.

There are a billion other reasons why I decided to pursue my lacrosse career in college, but these are the core three. I could not be more excited, and even moe nervous for the season to come around. It will definitely throw me for a loop. Probably make me cry a few times. Regardless of everything I will endure, the spot I will compete for, the early morning practices, I will never regret my decision to play a sport in college.