by Cassie Florido

 As the clock strikes 1 a.m., I let out a loud sigh as I realize it’s happened…again. It’s another night that I won’t get any sleep. To save myself from potentially falling asleep and waking up with notecards plastered to my face, I turn up the music as loud as it can go. Yeah, my family probably hates me for this, but you gotta do what you gotta do. But as I turn up the music I can’t help but think, “why me.” But I know exactly why it happens to me. Every. Single. Night. Sports happens to me.

Don’t get me wrong, I love playing sports and game days are the best. But nights after a game are the worst. My game nights consist of rushing home and locking myself in my room to attempt to get all my homework done within a reasonable time. Which usually, due to being soooo easily distracted, lasts until about 1:30 in the morning. I can’t help it if the Taylor Swift song that comes on gets me up performing my own little concert to my dog. I know it’s time to get back to work once he jumps up and starts scratching at my door. But, even when I’m not being distracted by my “mini concerts,” I still struggle to get my homework done within a reasonable time.

No, I don’t get to watch the marathon of Awkward that’s on. Sometimes I don’t even get to watch my daily dose of SportsCenter. There are even some nights when I don’t even get to check my Twitter, which is hard for me. I have to resort to locking myself in my room and attempting to figure out the electron configuration of Neon.

Trust me, I have told myself the “Oh, I’ll just do it during a free” multiple times. But usually during frees you can find me sleeping in the library. So the “Do it in a free” method never really works out for me.

Also, high school athletes practice everyday. Five days a week and sometimes tournaments on the weekend. I’m sure if you’re an athlete or friend of an athlete, you have probably heard or used the “Sorry, I have practice,” excuse a bajillion times. Don’t take this excuse personally. They probably really do want to go see “Pitch Perfect” with you, but they literally can’t because of a sports commitment.

Putting all these troubles aside, being a student-athlete is one of the best things in the world. There are so many amazing things students-athletes get to experience. For one, the rides to away games. If I was smart I would do homework in the van, but then I would miss out on bonding with my team. Some of the craziest things happen in the bus (some of which I can’t mention here) and worrying about school would make me miss these unforgettable moments.

Unforgettable moments like freshman year when the freshman basketball team took a bus to Lawrence through the winter snow. It was probably one of the most exciting, yet terrifying moments in my life. The bus driver was super sketchy and had no idea where he was going and would not listen to our directions. As a team, we decided to huddle together and have a little prayer circle in the middle of the bus, just in case. After the game, as we were walking back to the bus, the horn was going off like crazy. We walked up to the door and saw the driver fast asleep with his head on the wheel causing the horn to go off. To this day, I still laugh with my basketball teammates about that day. It’s something that all of us will remember for the rest of our life.

Another perk about sports are the friendships you create. Through sports I have made some lifelong friends. Through sports you become friends with people you would not even talk to outside of sports (shout out to frosh and soph JV vballers, luv you). Bonding over sports is something special that only athletes can experience.

So, in the end, as much as I hate having to rush to do my homework and staying up long enough to see the sun, I would not trade it for anything. I’m sure most athletes would agree with me. Even though it seems like there are so many struggles of being a student-athlete, there are amazing moments along the way that make it all worth it.