You did it.
Your four years of hard work in high school have paid off and you’re about to begin the next chapter of your life. College can be one of the most fun, rewarding experiences of your life and many of you are fortunate enough to be going there on athletic scholarships. Even if you didn’t take an offer and plan on walking on at a program, this is still a big deal for you.
You’re going to move up to a level where your competition consists of many of the best athletes from their respective high school teams. Making the cut for a roster puts you right there with everyone else who proved they have the talent and skill required for the next level. It’s not going to be easy by any means, but you can persevere if you keep believing in yourself.
Going to college, especially if you end up at a traditional university, is like entering a whole new world. You’ll have so many more opportunities and freedoms than you had in high school, and that can be liberating. That also means you can get stuck in a rut if you’re not careful and, while climbing out and saving your GPA isn’t impossible, the struggle sucks. I’ve missed big assignments, had to drop classes at the last minute and woke up at 9:12 a.m. on a midterm exam day in a class that ended at 9:15 a.m. These things taught me valuable lessons, but they’re also easily avoidable.
You want to know what the most important skill any college student, athlete or not, can have is? Two words: time management.
Time management will save you more often than you can count if you commit early and stick with it. It will be the difference between getting an A or B and showing up at your advisor’s door with a headache and a pressing need to save your GPA by dropping a course. If you’re an athlete with a commitment to your team, it’s especially important for you to know how you can arrange your coursework around your team’s schedule, and then you can find space for your
social life.
Don’t interpret that as me saying your social life should be a privilege or something you can work on only if you have time. You’ll go crazy if all you do is work. You need to take breaks once in a while to go out and have fun, relax and live your best life. You can definitely get those As if you manage your time well, so do make time to have some fun.
On behalf of the Plant City Observer, I want to say congratulations to you all and good luck on the path.