A student-athlete is a student who plays a sport on an official team supported by an educational system. At some point, that definition started to slowly change in other people's minds. When people think of student-athletes, they think of someone who always does whatever they want with the teacher and never has to work. They just play their sport and walk around school knowing they don't have to work as hard. This is a stereotype for all student athletes, but no one knows the reality of how they actually live day to day. From the outside people see the athlete's physical form. No one knows their story, their place in life, or where their life began. A student-athlete's home is wherever he plays. That is their home away from home, without the stereotypical voices and perhaps even domestic problems. It is their home, which they love and work hard for. The place is a safe and passionate place and is the home base for student athletes. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay One factor that triggers student athletes is how much time they have in a day. When the day ends it is getting dark and everyone is asleep. A typical student athlete goes to school during the day and trains immediately afterward or has a 20 to 45 minute time slot. Once practice is over, it's usually around 6:30 pm. or 7.30pm They still have to go home and shower. They also can't forget dinner. Finally, there is still homework to do. The estimated time all this will be done is midnight. The suggested sleep time for students is at least 8 hours. It's less than 8 hours and they have to wake up earlier to get to school on time. The biggest drop in all of this is the time spent between after school hours and sleep. “When everyone on campus left for summer vacation, I did too. But my summer break lasted 10 days instead of three months. Just 10 days after the finals we started “optional” training. What “optional” really means is that you have the option to choose whether or not you want to play this year. So most of the team is on campus over the summer, working hard and preparing for the next season. But these “optional” workouts are just the calm before the storm, because fall camp is not optional” (Uloop). As a student athlete it puts pressure and work levels on your plate. Some students play for fun and others play for their careers. No one can understand this unless they are a student athlete. Tamera Thomas, 18, is a basketball player. He played for Salem High School for 4 years. Basketball is a great passion for her and she has been playing it for 7 years. Basketball helped Tamera make many friends on all the teams she played on. Basketball helped her make lifelong friends who accompanied her through all the difficult times in her life. Tamera is very committed to her sport. She trains every day except Sunday, which requires a lot of her time. “I decided to play basketball because everyone in my family is athletic and I wanted to try a sport to see if I was as athletic as my mother.” “My mom played three sports and I was just hoping I could play one.” Tamera did track and field, but the track and field was just to try to help her gain speed and stamina, it wasn't a real sport she was passionate about. She maintained her grades in A and B averages. She was on the path to success and nothing could stop her at this point. Tamera and her mother have lived in Conyers, Georgia all their lives in a small one-story house. In mid-March things changed. His home wasburned due to an iron left plugged in. The next thing she thought about was where she and her mother were going. They needed money to save for a house. He didn't want to put pressure on his motherbasketball practices, so he quit the high school basketball team. They had to live with his grandmother, who also lived in Conyers, so he could still attend school. One of the hardest moments for Tamera was watching all of her teammates go to practice, while waiting for her mother to get off work to pick her up from school. One thing Tamera reminded herself is that everything happens for a reason and she can't give up on everything just because one thing failed. Tamera got a call from a family friend who was a travel team coach and wanted her to take the spot they had open. They would work financially with his mother. He was on a trip called Astro Hoops. Things started to look up for her and she knew great things were coming, sooner than she thought. “One day I hit the siren and the crowd went crazy. My heart was beating so fast, because I can't believe I actually did it.” That moment changed her life. A Georgia State coach called her after game night offering her a full-ride scholarship to Georgia State. He couldn't believe he had found a place to call home. Tamera took advantage of her opportunities and found a college for free. The main thing she was worried about as a student athlete in all of this was her education. Many people who are not part of that circle don't know that, as an athlete, you won't make it big if you don't have good grades. Colleges aren't just looking for skill - if that were the case, a lot of kids would be in the league. Tamera focused on what would take her far in life and that was her grade and basketball. Basketball taught her how to be a good student in general. She had to be responsible for herself. Basketball disciplined her and taught her how to keep up with the game. School work has its own spin on this because no one is saying student athletes shouldn't work like everyone else, but the load is very heavy and they may or may not be on time and teachers should honestly cut them some slack. Students work hard to keep their grades high, so imagine how a student athlete feels when classes are as challenging as practices. This is where it starts to take a toll on your personal health. Sleep is a very important factor for any human being. Not sleeping can affect your physical and mental performance and can lead to damaging not only your academic career, but also your sporting career. As an athlete you will not be able to concentrate as well in and out of class without sleep. Distractions may occur and/or you are so tired that you can't stay awake. This simply becomes a negative rolling ball. Additionally, most student athletes train every day except one day. Imagine that athletes who play contact sports experience a lot of hits and pressure from other players. As an athlete, you have a place to call home. The basketball court is a home for basketball players to relax the stress and heaviness they may feel in life. The basketball court has a huge space that makes it seem like no one could ever fill the entire room. The brown wooden floor on which the orange basketball bounces takes up most of the space. The bleachers of most basketball courts carry a lot of people. In the gym where I was watching Tamera play there was a section for students and level.