Inside the Lions Den with Lauren Vassallo

But a new dreadful fact spawns across my mind as I drift off into dreamland: finals.,As I sit in class, head bobbing while my eyelids continually begin to close, listening (well, trying to listen) to my professor lecture about social movements, all I keep thinking about is how I cannot wait for this semester to end.

But a new dreadful fact spawns across my mind as I drift off into dreamland: finals.

Like I don’t have enough things to worry about, such as what our game schedule is like for the rest of the semester.

Of course, I always get the lecture about how I’m a student-athlete and how important academics are.

Athletes hear this speech constantly.

Besides getting me ready for the real world and helping me find a career that will in turn support me for the rest of my life, what is the point of homework and finals?

Okay, point taken.

But seriously, people who don’t play athletics in college really underestimate those who do.

I understand that some other people have other demanding activities such as clubs or shows that they produce. But think about it: if one plays a sport, he or she has practices almost everyday, from weightlifting to running workouts.

Plus, there are games at times where they may have class, causing them to miss it and having to make up work.

And on top of all this, they have to handle the work load that their professors hand out to them.

This year has been a lot more stressful for me than last year.

I don’t know whether it comes with the territory of being a sophomore or if it’s because Emerson College is a lot more demanding than my last school.

Regardless, it has been frustrating trying to cope with school and basketball, especially with these last few weeks.

What’s worse is that finals are upon us and that makes things even more frustrating.

Papers are being thrown at us. Study guides for exams need to be completed. Studying terms and applications of what we’ve thus learned.

Then, for us athletes, there are the early morning practices and strenuous evening games to excel in as well as the schoolwork.

It’s something that all student-athletes have to deal with. And somehow, most of us are able to juggle each activity that we participate in.

So, while some of you are hard at work studying for finals, make use of the extra time you have preparing because some of us aren’t blessed with that luxury.