By TJMichaels, Oak Lawn, IL
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.” said by the famous Wayne Gretzky. Student athletes are all around the world working hard not only for their grades, but for their sports as well. Being a student athlete can be very time consuming and the only way to stay on top of their game is working ahead of schedule. There are many different results that occur from being a student athlete such as the character traits, and the passion that are picked up along the road to success. In order to be a successful student athlete not only must a person be willing to spend a lot of time practicing, but that person must also be prepared for all of the obstacles that can come along the way such as; stress, character flaws, and even weak mental strength.
First, the most important thing to know about student athletes is that they are very busy people.
Student Athletes and the Crazy Effects of Being One (Continued)
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Not only can the transition from going from high school to college be stressful, but also the fact that knowing that both the classes and the athletic competition are going to get harder as well. Student athletes must be prepared to avoid failing classes, and prepare for their season all at the same time (Brandon, 2010). If one can do all of this they are the definition of a student athlete and should be pretty successful in college.
Next, being a student athlete can bring a person a lot of stress causing them to lose concentration in both school and their sport (Wilson, 2000). Stress can be the one major problem that can cause a kid to not only quit their sport, but also drop out of school. Being a student athlete causes more stress than mostly any other reasoning for a student in college to have stress.
When an athlete has a big game coming up and a big project due the day after, that will cause some stress. The only way that a student can avoid having this stress is finishing their homework a week earlier, so they have time to relax after the game. Stress can also cause an athlete to stop doing a sport for a little while and completely focus on school. Now there’s nothing wrong with doing that, but stopping a sport for a while will delay the growth of an athlete’s skill level (Fuentes).That little time off could be the determining factor of winning Conference or not for their team. It’s agreed that nobody wants to be that one athlete that ruins winning Conference just because they don’t plan ahead of schedule.