As the fall season starts to come to an end, a new set of students are going to have to face the struggles and challenges of mental health. As expectations heighten, stress and pressure grow too for all student-athletes.

Student-athletes are considered the most dedicated type of student because not only are they facing the academic stress as a regular student but sports adds on to what they do. Student-athletes also have to worry about having passable grades unlike regular students, we are required not to have any failing classes and maintain a certain GPA.

This can be really difficult with having practice 3-5 times a week because it really limits the time for homework and the time for yourself. To top this all off you might not get the right amount of time to sleep because you may be studying for a test or working on homework. This can lead the fatigue and lack of sleep which may hurt the student-athletes production.

Another struggle with being a student-athlete is the lack of free time you have. From my experience right now, the only days I can hang out is Sunday and sometimes Monday. This is because I either have practice or games I need to attend, this limits my social life and even academics because most of the time these days are my big work days for school work. Due to these busy and tight schedules, many student-athletes like myself have a very hard time attending events or even hanging out with loved ones.

Being a student-athlete is no easy challenge, it takes a lot of dedication to keep going and keep up with school and sports. Those who keep trying will have a very bright future and will have more opportunities than tons of people and their hard work won’t be unnoticed.