The life of a student athlete is one that is full of stress, food, sleep, and procrastination. But at the end of the day everything is OK because there is a team there to love and support you since everyone else on the team is going through your struggles, too. Although this life is hard and often times uncomprehendable to non-student atheletes, you gain a little family that helps each other through the turmoils of life.
To all of my fellow collegiette swimmers and athletes: I now understand and feel your struggle with having a double practice day. Remember, you are strong and naps are your friend. You got this.
7:15 AM: Wake up for Courtney workout* at 7:30. Why did I think joining a team in college would be a good thing? I wonder if Coach would believe me if I said I was sick…
Pro tip: Don’t eat before Courtney. You’ll regret so much in your life if you do.
8:00 AM: It’s about half way through Courtney and all I can think about is the glorious breakfast sent to me from above awaiting for me to devour it. As a student athlete, my top concerns throughout the day, no matter what I’m doing are food and sleep. I’m thankful to have my team here with me as we support each other through this rough time.
8:30 AM: Finally, we’re done with Courtney and my ab muscles hurt so much I feel like I’m going to vomit. But at last, we trek off into the sub-freezing weather drenched in sweat and groaning with each step towards the most wonderful invention of a meal called breakfast.
10:10 AM: I’m sitting in my first morning class and feeling good about myself. I started off the day great, and am ready to take on whatever life throws at me. I’m feeling good; the amount of things I’m going to complete today is infinite…I am unstoppable.
10:20 AM: Alright, feeling a little tired, but I keep waking up when I nod off which is good, right? Only 40 more minutes left – I got this!
11:00 AM: This class is finally over. Hallelujah. Now I’m ready to go back to my dorm, to my comfy bed, and take the best nap ever. But maybe I’ll just watch an episode or two of Grey’s Anatomy. I’ll nap after.
1:00 PM: No no no, I have class in 10 minutes and I still need to eat and finish up the homework and actually not look like a post-workout mess.
1:05 PM: Alright, I guess looking like a mess and a Clif bar for lunch is good enough. I mean, at a women’s college who really cares??? (#truth)
2:30 PM: I am so sore and I still have another practice this afternoon. How is this possible? Is it acceptable to email the professor and tell him that I’m too sore to move? I mean I’m a student athlete. What more can they expect of me? *cries*
2:40 PM: Ok, I made it to my next class. I can do this. At this point in the day, I’ve come to accept that I’m still living because of Clif Bars and protein powder and that’s ok.
4:00 PM: Got practice in 15 minutes. Cry so much. That feeling when you’ve realized you should’ve eaten real food today and should’ve gotten more sleep last night and just should really get my life together.
4:30 PM: Ok, this is good. I’m only a couple minutes late for practice. It won’t be that bad, hopefully.
6:30 PM: WHO THOUGHT IT WAS A GOOD IDEA TO SEPARATE THE DINING HALL AND THE GYM WITH TWO SETS OF STAIRS?!
7:00 PM: This food is amazing. Thank you, fam. The dining hall staff is the real MVP.
8:00 PM: Finally made it back to the dorm, but I don’t really want to do anything. The real question is who really needs a college education? I could just drop out now; I’m pretty smart, right? I think I hear Netflix calling my name – don’t worry, baby, I’m coming.
10:00 PM: D*mn, I should probably start my homework… but I’m kind of hungry. Dominoes seems like a really good idea right now. I can do my homework after pizza.
2:00 AM: Well, look at the time. I guess sleep should be a thing that happens tonight. I’m going to regret going to bed so late tomorrow, but right now I kind of don’t care about anything else right now.
*Courtney is an amazing human who has been hired as a personal trainer for the varsity teams at Bryn Mawr. Her workouts, however, are known campus wide as the type of workouts where you just feel like you’re dying in the end.
At the end of the day, it’s a tough, busy life being a student athlete, but I’m thankful to have an amazing team and coaches who are the best support system a person could have. And, although we may struggle, we will always be a family.