Caitlin Dorsch ~ Co-Editor in Chief
Perhaps one of my pet peeves is hearing the words, “I am too busy!” In my opinion, the word “busy” means that you do not have time to give to something. This idea implies that you are giving your time to something else, not related to the thing that you are “too busy” for. And, hearing this as a student-athlete was always something that aggravated me to no end.
Now, I want to make note that I understand that, sometimes, student-athletes genuinely are busy in their lives. However, I refuse to believe that an individual literally has no time whatsoever to give to the sport that they say that they love. For me, being “busy” is simply a matter of perspective. For example, if I tell myself, “Wow, I am really busy today,” then I am essentially given myself an excuse to not do something else that I could have done to make myself better that very day.
And, trust me, when you work at something every day for weeks, months, or – maybe – years, you will increase your skill level immensely at whatever you were not as good at. For me, this was catching the soccer ball. Even when I was “busy,” I still made time to go out, either with one of my women’s soccer teammates or by myself, to catch the ball in some way or another every single weekday. And, in my opinion, it was making the simple save and being confident that helped me progress immensely as a goalkeeper at the collegiate level.
The nature of many student-athletes is to be motivated and to be involved in many different activities. As a result, it may sometimes feel that one is “too busy.” However, I say again, “Being ‘too busy’ is simply a matter of perspective!” If one changes their mindset to say, “Wow, I have a lot to do today, but I need to still get some [insert skill/exercise in] done by the end of the day,” then one has finally stopped giving excuses for why that are unable to get better each and every day.
At that moment where excuses are no longer given, that individual has completely committed to getting better in their sport. And, the best part of this is that the individual is finally free from the constraints of time. That individual has chosen to no longer be limited from a relative social concept called time. Thus, the individual has finally put the benefit of the team over their own individual selves.