Aimee Turner
From my personal experiences and the general perception put on by media, athletes in schools have always been the most popular, prom king and queen, etc. Throughout high school, I can remember all of my friends who were sports players being at all the social events, and in essence, the life of the party. Since I've been at Georgia Tech, I've made many friends who are involved in sports, many of which are NCAA regulated. As they have testified to me, their experience as college athletes differs greatly from their experiences as high school athletes.
It can be generalized that NCAA division sports are way more intense than high school sports. Not only has the audience double or even increased 8 fold, but the time, dedication, and pressure placed on those student-athletes far exceeds the modest requirements that many of them may have had during high school. In other words, they live i.e. FOOTBALL, VOLLEYBALL, etc. They have practice time scheduled like full-time 8 hour jobs on some days! Many students who play sports in college, especially nationally ranked, have said that they dedicate the majority of their college experience to playing this sport.
From this intense practice schedule along with the stress of college classes, many student athletes do not have time for a social life outside of those who are on the sports team with them. I can say from my own experiences of going to a college that is a Division 1 NCAA competitor; I have often felt a divide between sports players and the rest of the cam pus. They are no longer on that pedestal as I was used to seeing them in the sense that they are not as social. Although I have friends who are athletes, more could be done to integrate student-athletes into the rest of the campus setting.
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