I’ll say it. Being a student athlete in college can be hard. Being a student athlete while your college is online is even harder. Roughly 25% of Saint Mike’s population is made up of student athletes, many of whom are spring sport athletes. Luckily for me, I was able to complete both of my sports’ seasons before the college closed down for the spring. However, for many athletes, March turned out to be the end of the line for their seasons.
So what now?
Of the 21 varsity sports that Saint Mike’s offers, almost two-thirds of them are team sports. With the majority of states placing their residents on lockdown, many find it hard to get out and even practice their sports in some way, much less follow any sort of training plan. Strength workouts are being cobbled together to incorporate mostly body weight exercises, athletes are hitting the roads to run or bike, and team meetings are taking place over Zoom rather than face-to-face. Added to this, professors are beginning to pile on more work rather than reducing the workload, even in light of the extenuating circumstances. Many like me, find it difficult to carve out a few hours of the day to get our workouts in.
In times like this, I find the best thing to do is to look back on the good memories and experiences we shared with our teammates while we could. For me, it’s better than the alternative of thinking about what could’ve been. For those of us who have more seasons at Saint Mikes, we look to the time when we can “get back on the field;” however, some of our fellow Purple Knights will never get that chance again. My heart goes out to the Seniors who don’t get to have that last meet or last game, and end out their college experiences with all the recognition and fanfare they deserve. It’s really frustrating, but all anyone can do right now is take it one day at a time, and remember that we can only go up from here.