Athletics is one of my favorite interests and hobbies. College athletes deal with many opportunities, experiences, and even sometimes downfalls. There are many different advantages and disadvantages of being a college athlete. Throughout this paper, I am going to discuss the many different issues that college athletes deal with. Having been a college athlete, I have reaped in the numerous advantages, and unfortunately experienced the notable disadvantages.

A general advantage of being a college athlete is that you get to be part of a team, which means new teammates, and new friends. By being part of a team, you get to play the sport you love everyday. Also you get to meet new people. It's always nice to meet new people when you first come to college. Whatever sport student athletes decide to play, their teammates will probably be their first friends at college.

Another general advantage of being a college athlete is that by playing a sport, one will stay fit and healthy. Athletes stay in shape by running, working hard on the field, and also by lifting weights. By staying fit at a young age in life, will be helpful later on in life.

One of the best advantages of being

Right now, academic standards for college athletes are the same as for anybody else, but some want to lower the standards because the graduation rates for student athletes are falling. In the Chronicle of Higher Education, a writer states, "There is a possibility that the NCAA might change the academic requirements for players"(Suggs pA34). Why change the academic requirements for college athletes? How is that fair to all the other students? By lowering the academic standards, it may not help one in the future. Most college student athletes are in college to play a sport, and not focused entirely on education. However, getting an education should be the first priority at college. An education will help one get a desirable future career. Playing a sport will not help with a future career, unless a specific student plans on going pro. But that doesn't always happen. Even if a college athlete goes pro, it is good to have a back-up plan to fall back on. "Your school is not worthy to be the champion of the country if you're not educating your kids"(Hesburgh 1).

a college athlete is that little kids look up to you. College athletes are role models. Last year during softball, about 5 or 6 t-ball teams came to North Carolina Wesleyan College. We taught the kids how to field a ball, catch a fly ball, and be a catcher behind the plate, pitch, throw and hit. It was great. Before they left, the softball team did our infield and outfield. The whole time this was going on, the kids were cheering and clapping. It made not only me, but also the softball team feel good. It really means a lot when younger kids look up to you.

Many expect more out of athletes. This could be both an advantage and disadvantage. Athletes are treated differently. What makes athletes so different from everyone else? Nothing at all. However, in college, athletes have different rules and regulations to follow. For example, if an athlete misses too many classes or even 1 or 2, and your coach finds out, then someone's going to be running. Coaches are very strict about athletes' grades. This is a good thing because it shows you that the coach cares, and it gives you another reason to perform well in class.

A disadvantage of being a college athlete is all the stress that is dealt with. Depending on how much you're into the game and how much you love the game, determines the level of stress that you take on. Stress can come from not having enough time to get all your school work done. It can also come from not having a good game, practice, or just a bad day in general. Being stressed is not healthy, and can even affect an athlete's performance, because their mind will be on something else instead of the game. Being a college athlete takes up a lot of time, especially with all the games and practices. I interviewed Sarah Jones, women's basketball player. I asked her if she thought they had basketball practice for too long, but she said, "No, we need the practice, and the only way we will get better is through practice." How much practice time is too much? "The National Collegiate Athletic Association limits the time athletes spend on practice and competition to 20 hours a week, however many feel this rule is openly flouted, forcing athletes to spend less time on studying and in turn lowering

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Approximate Word count = 2211
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)