Broken goggles, snapped caps, power racks, 5:30 am morning practices, lifting, underwater, 5+ hours a day, the tears during practice; all these things have been my life the last 17 years, especially the last 4; until last week.

College swimming is no joke. The alarm clock going off at 5 am never got easier as my time as a swimmer. I always had to set 2-3 to finally get up and drag myself to practice. The worst part about my morning? Jumping into the cold pool. You can ask any swimmer what they dread the most in the morning and I guarantee you it will be getting into the pool. I was always one of the last ones in the water (which seemed to have ticked my coaches off as time went on, oops).

2 hours pass of staring at the black line and I feel accomplished knowing most college students are still in bed. That is just the start of my day.

Classes on classes follow practice and before I know it, I’m back at the pool again for practice #2 of the day. After barely surviving most afternoon practices and feeling like I am drowning, my day is finally over. I then would hit the books for the rest of the night and repeat it all again tomorrow. This was my life every single day during my time as a Division 1 swimmer at Auburn University. I never had the regular college life as a majority of students do. However, I wouldn’t trade my life for anything.

Swimming was my biggest blessing in disguise. During high school, I lost many close friends and different school events for my sport. I always used the excuse “I have swimming”. But it was true. I was always at the pool. Whether I realized it or not, it kept me out of trouble.  Swimming has given me the opportunity to meet the most amazing people from all across the world. Perhaps one of the biggest lessons I have learned as a swimmer is that you will always have a hard working attitude out of the pool. Balancing sport and academics is one of the most challenging things as a student athlete. Thankfully, I was able to divide my attention for swimming and school. It has also taught me about myself- who I was and what I stood for. Once I became part of a team at Auburn, I learned that it wasn’t about myself.

I wasn’t doing what I was doing for myself. I put in the work for my teammates; to make them better and inspire them. I found myself putting myself second and my teammates first.

This sport was all I ever knew. Often I found myself getting caught up in the swimming world and forgetting everything else. The biggest lesson that swimming didn’t teach me is that LIFE GOES ON. I didn’t think there would be life once I was done with swimming to be honest. Nobody prepared me for when I would be done. All I knew was swimming, swimming, and swimming. That was my life. Now a senior and a week into the “retirement life”, I quickly realized that there is more to life than my sport and that life actually does go on. From the missed intervals during practice, to the 5 second add in a 200 during a meet, I have learned that those things will not be remembered a year from now. What I will remember is my teammates and the memories I made with them. I now have free time that I never had before. Is it fun? No. Do I wish I could swim forever? Probably. But I have learned that I am more than my sport. I am the wanna-be soccer player, the music listener. I am the ex-student athlete who is finding out who I am.

I will forever be thankful for never quitting on the sport and continuing the passion for my sport. Swimming will always be a love-hate relationship to me but I wouldn’t want it any other way. I am thankful for my time as a swimmer my whole life, especially at Auburn University. Here’s to surviving week 1 of my retirement life!

When you decide to become a college athlete people tend to tell you all of the horror stories that come along with it. They tell you about conditioning, the long nights and early mornings, and the responsibility that comes along with it. But what they don’t tell you about becoming a college athlete is that…

You’ll be blessed with a roommate that has been such a blessing in your life. A roommate that started as a walk on but worked hard and did everything it took to earn a full scholarship. You won’t know that the girl that you were too afraid to say hey to outside of Jervey will be your teammate and road roommate. They don’t tell you that your roommate will help you through one of the most difficult times in your life. And they don’t tell you that Vee will become a part of your family and you’ll become a part of hers.

They don’t tell you how competitive and determined your teammate will be. How she’s one of the first in the gym and one of the last to leave. They don’t tell you that she’s so selfless and will go out of her way to do things to help you. That she’s shy and quiet when you first meet, but one of the goofiest people you’ll ever meet. And they don’t tell you that if you ever tell Nelly that she can’t do something, she will prove you wrong.

They don’t tell you that you’ll have a hairdresser on the team that runs House of Beauty. That she is the most girly and prissy person you’ll ever meet, but she’s also wiling to listen and offer helpful advice with whatever you’re going through. They don’t tell you that MK will come to your house whenever you have a rough day and bring Spill the Beans to make everything better.

When you decide to play a sport in college, they don’t tell you that you’ll meet someone who wears Nike all the time. You wont hear that her laugh is contagious and she has the best taste of music. They don’t tell you that she’s competitive at whatever she’s doing. And they definitely don’t tell you that Lex will dance at any moment.

They don’t tell you that you’ll have an Italian teammate that is one of the funniest people you will ever meet. She’ll tell you exactly how she feels no matter the situation and make you laugh while doing it. They don’t tell you that she works so hard in the classroom and is one of the smartest people you’ll ever meet. You won’t know that she can sing almost every song that comes on the radio, but has no idea what they mean. They don’t tell you that Franny has the meanest Euro step in the game.

They won’t tell you that you’ll have a Canadian teammate who knows how to have a good time. You won’t know that she will say whatever is on her mind no matter who is around. They don’t tell you that she’ll try to get everyone to listen to Dancehall and that Sirah is one of the kindest people you’ll meet.

They don’t tell you that you’ll have a teammate that doesn’t talk much, but when she does she has something to say. She can be closed off at times, but you’ll learn more about her as time goes on. They won’t tell you that she’s strong and fast and takes no prisoners on the court. You won’t know that even though she barely spoke her freshman year, you could pick her laugh out of a crowd of millions. They wont tell you that KP is an observer and one of the funniest people you will ever meet.

For some reason they fail to bring up the teammate who seems to never run out of energy. The one that is everywhere on every play and is one of the hardest working people you’ve ever met. You won’t know that she has the funniest facial expressions and always has a clap back for whatever you come at her with. They don’t tell you that Li is full of random facts for every day.

They fail to tell you that you’ll meet a guard that came in ready to make an impact on the team. They don’t tell you that she will always be one of the best-dressed people that I’ve ever met. You wont know that she looks out for the people around her and has a heart of gold. You won’t know that Dani is leaves an impact on someone everywhere she goes.

I wish someone would have told me that I would bond with the freshman in just a few months and they would feel just as much like family as the people that I already spent a year to two years with.

I wonder why no one told me that I would have a teammate from “Bawdimore” who is absolutely hilarious. They didn’t tell me that her dance moves are terrible but she makes up for it by how much she enjoys dancing. You won’t know that she’s scatterbrained and sometimes you have no idea what she’s talking about until you ask more than once. They don’t tell you that Jaia says whatever comes to her mind no matter how it comes out, but she’s one of the best people to be around because of her amazing personality.

They don’t tell you that you’ll meet someone with such a STRONG southern accent that she has to clarify what she’s saying. You won’t be told that she is one of the most down to earth people that you will ever meet. She may not say a lot, but if you listen hard you’ll hear Kobi’s quick and funny comments under everyone else talking.

You won’t hear about the girl who’s completely independent and seems to have everything together. They don’t tell you how hard she works to get what she wants. They tend to leave out that your little sister Kayce is all about the team and brings so much energy to every practice and workout.

People fail to tell you that you’ll meet of one the most random people that you’ve ever met. They don’t tell you that she has a nickname for everyone that matches her bubbly personality. If you watch closely you’ll find her dancing to whatever song is playing. When see her you can pick her out by her love of socks and her curly hair and after you meet her you’ll never forget Chyna.

You’ll never hear about the girl from Cali who is one of the coolest people you’ll ever meet. You won’t hear that she’s so selfless and cares so much about the people around her. They don’t tell you that you’ll love her style and the way she dresses, but most importantly you won’t know that SiSi is a hard worker in everything she does.

What they don’t tell you when you decide to become a college athlete is that you’ll be blessed with not only teammates, but also a family.