“not the usual”

(SEM-BREAK PAPER)

Around the mid-December, “sem-break”, everyone would usually go on a vacation or maybe spend time trying to even study more. Regular students probably took a break from all those cramming moments; deadlines, projects and anything stressful in terms of academics. I, as a student-athlete, was not able to spend my “sem-break” the usual way. Our season was up by then and it was the beginning of a “horrible” journey for our team. Double-training for this “vacation” enclosed with soul-taking runs, breathtaking circuit training- training composed of various exercises that is time-based- and an overall package of playing football. Each morning of that break, I come and collect myself; wake up 30 mins before training time, to prepare for another battle that is up and approaching. Snooze the alarm, open my eyes wide, rush to the bathroom door, grab my towel and shower, rush again downstairs to eat a bowl of oatmeal and a banana, then rush again to my car and head to U.P. for our 6 am training; end of training at 9 , rush to our teammate’s condo to sleep and then get back up again to ready ourselves for the 4 pm training. This was the usual routine we did as a team, a week before the weekend (which is primarily our finish line, which is the game day). I or we are not just the usual students or athletes, we have our own battles and challenges that not much people know of.