Sports in College

Sports in college! I don't know how many people consider going on to college to play sports but I know I have. This has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember. All I ever wanted to watch on tv was college basketball. I would beg my parents to take me to the OJC games. And I wasn't like the other kids that went to watch the game. I would sit down and watch the WHOLE game even though all of my friends were there. All they would do is run around and I thought watching basketball would be a lot more entertaining than running around. I wasn't even a teenager yet but I knew what my goal in life was.
Then I started talking to college students that are athletes and that is when my mind started to change. They told me that playing a sport in college is more like having a job than it is just being in a sport. They have practice at least one time a day, usually two times a day. They go out of town for games and even sometimes out of state. There would be some long days and some late nights. Of course in college you can choose to go to class or not, but if you are an athlete it would probably be pretty smart to go to class so your grades would stay up. There are a bunch of disadvantages of being a college athlete. You pretty much have a job, but they don't pay you. From the athletes that I have talked to it doesn't seem like they have much of a life outside the sport they are playing. Yes, it is cool that your teammates turn into your family, but no one compares to your real family. It would be really hard to go home and visit on the weekends if you wanted to.
So I'm really having a hard time deciding if I REALLY REALLY REALLY want to play sports in college. Of course I would be dissapointed in myself for not pursuing my dream, but when it comes to the time when I need to make a decision I hope I make the right choice.

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined."
-Henry David Thoreau