Signing all of the Papers

Signing+all+of+the+Papers

Kiki Grimes, Staff Writer

On Wednesday, Feb. 3, I had the honor of signing to run track and field at the University of Colorado/Colorado Springs.

And while I’m over the moon with the opportunity provided to continue participating in the sport I love at the collegiate level, I know that the difficulty level of not only being an athlete but also a student is going to be on a whole new level.

Being a high school student athlete has never been easy.

Balancing school work, practice, games, a social life, and enough sleep is tough to say the least. And more times than not, one can never attain all of these things at once. Personally, I usually end up sacrificing one or more of these in order accomplish the others.

Finding that perfect balance between my high school education, social life, and enough sleep is exhausting, and very hard to find.

I have been a student athlete for as long as I can remember, and I still have not managed to find that perfect balance.

I find myself at times forgetting to do my homework because I’ve been so busy with my other commitments, blowing my friends off for days because I’m too busy with school work, practices and games, or only getting five hours of sleep the night before due to staying up so late trying to finish homework.

So while being a high school student athlete has never been easy, I can’t imagine what being a student athlete at the collegiate level is going to be like.

Although I’m partially nervous for what’s in store, none of those nerves can replace my excitement for the unknown.

I have always loved to run – well, not particularly anything over a mile but nonetheless — and to get the opportunity to be able to do it in college is something I never imagined I would be able to do.

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I couldn’t be more excited.