The Football Transition

Highschool and college are different in many ways. Classes are different, friends are different, your living situation is different,  and for athletes sports are different. College level athletics, at any level of NCAA, is a big step up from highschool and something that one must be prepared for. There is a transition period and an adjustment period as you get used to college sports. Football, especially, is a big transition and much different than highschool football. I will explain the differences between highschool and college football and how to properly adjust to these differences.

Highchool football is no doubt tough and extremely challenging, however, college football is even tougher and more challenging. The two main differences bewtween the two are speed and size. Even at the D3 level the players are much bigger and much faster. This is something that will take some adjustment. The summer before you begin playing college football should be the hardest working time of your life. I recommend focusing your workout efforts on those two aspects of your game. Spend as much time in the weight room working on lifts that will best increase your strength and size at the same time. Also, you need to spend an equal amount of time on a track or football field working on your speed. Utilize the speed drills that you coach will send you in a summer workout manual. You may think that you no more about working out than your college strength coach, but i promise you that you do not.

The final thing I would like to emphasize about that transition is do not be initimidated. Now, i am not at all saying to be cocky when you go into your first season of college football. But, you should have a sense of confidence. Be confident in your abilities. You are on the team because the coaches wanted you there. They obviously see something in you. When you get there prove them right! As a reminder, in order to be successful in college football focus on your speed, strength, and listen to everything your coaches tell you. If you do all these things you will have a great chance to be a successful college football.

I love this pic! by Sherri Calhoun is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.


Yay by Sherri Smetana is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Guidlines to Live By Your Freshman Year

The transition from high school to college is a major one. It is a culture shock to a lot of people. It is a totally different way of living and a major step up from high school. You don't have parents making sure you get up in the morning and you have a lot more independence.

There are two ways to handle this newfound freedom. You can go crazy and party and not worry too much about school and studying, but this option will leave you unhappy at Christmas break when you see your grades. The other option is to manage your time well and focus on school and do homework ahead of time. I would highly recommend the latter option. You may ask yourself "well that doesn't sound fun at all; i thought college was all about parties and meeting new people"? If you do manage your time well and get your school work and studying done when you should then you will also have time to meet new people and go to parties. Do not fret, college is a fun experience and should absolutely be enjoyed to the fullest. With great time management college won't stress you out to much and will be the best four years of your life. Also, both you and your parents will be happy when you get those grades back in December.

In order to achieve that success you want to have I would highly recommend getting a study group and meeting with your professor regularly. A study group is a great way to not only study, but to meet new people as well. Don't be afraid to throw the idea out there to your classmates about starting a study group. They will respect you for this because most of them have wanted to be in a study group, but were most likely to afraid to ask about forming one. You will make new friends and be encouraged to study by others who want to do well in class. As I saud, the other thing you should absolutely do is meet regularly with each professor. I recommend setting up a meeting with each professor every week or two weeks. This may sound like a lot but it is worth it. Meeting with them will help you make sure you unserstand everything in class and it will make sure that you are not behind in class. This also shows the professor that you are interested in their material and really want to get better as a student. With these two tactics and good time management you set yourself up for success. You will be a successful student, but also meet new people and be able to have fun and enjoy college.

The photo represents the last stage of my highschool career and the first stage of my "big transition".


His Buddy by Sherri Smetana is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.