When Decisions Need to be Made

I had done a lot of thinking over this past summer about my first year of college. I thought about what I liked, what I didn't like, and what I could change in order to have the best experience at St. Mike's. I remembered being very stressed trying to balance my school work with playing lacrosse. When I was at practice, I was often thinking more about the school work I had to get done then the actual game I was playing. These experiences led me to make the decision to not play lacrosse this year.

This was one of the biggest decisions I have ever had to make. It was not an easy choice. I have played lacrosse for almost 10 years, and have had great success while doing so. It is a sport I will always love, but I had to think about my future. After all, I am going to college in order to pursue a career, not play sports. Lacrosse is important to me, but doing well in school is more important.

Playing a sport in college is a huge commitment. It is something that takes dedication, responsibility, and hard work. I am not saying I did not have these things, but it began to interfere with my studies by the end of last year. If anyone is interested in playing a sport in college, you need to have the self discipline to do school work anytime you have free time throughout your day. I remember some days last year, we had morning workouts before class, then class all day (labs if you were a science major), and then practice after class. By the time I got dinner and showered it was already 8 or 9 at night! This is why I highly suggest that you get you work on your homework whenever you may have free time.

I am in no means trying to discourage anyone from playing sports! I am only trying to make people aware of what it is like to do so. Academics do not come easily for me. I know plenty of other athletes who can handle the workload fine, and do well in both academics and athletics. My friend Marty is a biology major as well as a lacrosse player. For him, the information and workload is easier for him to understand and complete. For myself, I need to work very hard in the class room in order to achieve the grades I want. I felt that not playing lacrosse would give me much more time to work on my studies. I am proud of my decision, and I feel as though it was the mature thing to do. If anyone is hoping to play a collegiate sport, I wish you the best of luck! Just remember, hit those books as hard as you hit the field, court, pool, or gym!

Until next time,
Nate