Spending TIME with Student-Athletes

College is not an easy process for most students. Everyone has to go to class, take tests, do homework, and study. There is also the partying aspect of college where kids can go out, drink some beer and have a good time.

Student-Athletes have a completely different lifestyle which gives them different view of college.
Tacked on to all of the school work that every student has, athletes have other commitments that give them long days and little or no social life. Tom Ottaiano, 20, an offensive guard on Hofstra's football team says he can only go out one night a week.

"It isn't just practice and games, I wake up at 5:30 a.m. four days a week to lift. I have hour long positional meetings with my coach starting at 2:30 p.m. everyday followed by practice from 4:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., then we have to shower and eat. I'm usually not back into my room until after 8:00 at night." " Tom said that, "sometimes I just want to get drunk and be a regular college student."

At the Division I level, athletes, no matter what sport they play, never get a season off. Junior women's volleyball star Francesca Garay, 21, may only play her games in the fall season, but she explained that the off-season is often harder on the body than when they are having matches. "We lift weights and have conditioning four days a week and have still have practices. The practices during our season aren't easy, but my coach doesn't kill us because we have games every so often. In the spring, our coach will run us to the ground and she isn't worried about our bodies taking a pounding."

Athletes around campus are usually more tired and beat up from their sport when they are not in season.

She and Tom both agree that playing a sport can put a damper on your schoolwork. Tom joked that his body gets extremely worn down that even though he might have a lot of assignments to get done, "a nap seems so much better." Francesca has had scheduling issues that, due to time restraints has forced her to hold off on taking a class until the following semester. "I wish I was able to start my day with a 2:00 p.m. class every, but instead I have stupid 8:00 a.m. classes."

There are cases that the struggles of being a student-athlete become too much for people to handle. Former Hofstra football player, Tyler Johnston, 21, decided that after two years on the team, the lifestyle of being an athlete along with his school work was too tough to manage.

" I love the sport, it was really tough for me to give it up; but, I was not on scholarship and with the loans I took out and my parents paying, I had to do everything I could to keep my grades up." Tyler said that he was often too busy to study during the day, and struggled to keep his eyes open long enough at night to break open his books.

Now, without football, Johnston is able to go to his classes, eat, work out, and study any time he wants to. "If I have a test in my 6:30 p.m. class, I can study before the class and not have to rush there directly after practice, without eating dinner, and without looking over my notes. It really makes a huge difference. " According to himself, Johnston does not have any excuses for not doing well in his classes from this point forward.