BY MADISON LOCKARD | Ball State Sports Link | Ball State Soccer

Being a part of Ball State Sports Link is a true blessing.

As a student-athlete, I’ve witnessed the Sports Link perspective and the amount of hours my peers here work to to produce a live event for ESPN 3 or to tell the best features on student-athletes.

Coming into Ball State University as a freshman I never thought I would be able to get into such a big program and be on the women’s soccer team here at the same time.

For me, this was easy.  I am the type of person who likes to be involved in everything, so I am here today to give you the inside scoop on being a student-athlete at Ball State University.

First off, let me start by saying I would not like to be anywhere else rather than here. Playing soccer was the best choice I made and I would not change it for the world.

With that being said here comes some true honesty — being a college athlete is insanely difficult. 

No one wants to wake up at the crack of dawn everyday and workout, or practice, or have meetings. No one wants to do it, but we do it because that is what being a college athlete is. We chose this life, now we just have to roll with it.

Anyways, the inside scoop would be — this is crazy. Time management is definitely something we have to worry about and organization is the key.

Sometimes I think they overwork our bodies until we cannot push anymore, and they make us do all of these crazy things so we just have to go along with and do.

We have meetings day after day, hour after hour. Not only that, but then comes team bonding, which is wonderful but you are so tired from being busy every second of the day that you just want to go to bed.

We not only have to be an athlete, we have to act like an athlete.  Everywhere we go, it is professional. We wear the exact same thing if we are out in public, we have manners and our posture is tall.

We have rules which have to be followed. We have to watch what we eat every day, getting the right nutrients so we do not pass out at the 4-hour practice we have that day.

This is what we go though, all of us student-athletes, knowing this would be a commitment that we had to challenge ourselves with.

With all of this being said, I truly believe being a Division 1 student-athlete was the greatest decision I have ever made.

Through the ups and downs, I think this path and journey is all worth it.

Without this amazing opportunity, I would not have the friends I have today nor would I be the same woman I am today.