Josefina Trella is a student in Northern Illinois University's Journalism 401 class, Editorial & Opinion Writing. We'll bring you more Perspectives from the class in the coming days.
College athletes get a rough transition out of college.
Student-athletes are given so many tools to prepare for everything, for a life revolving around sports. But when it comes to preparing for the workforce and life outside of a sport, a shock hits the system.
What is this so-called free time? I don’t have work experience because I was too busy training for tennis. Are my amazing time-management skills enough to hire me? Can I do graduate school without being an athlete?
Being a senior, these questions are constantly hitting my mind…especially as my graduation date gets closer and closer. Can I live without tennis? Because here I am, watching my sister still teaching tennis while trying to get internships when her only “work experience” is being a student-athlete. I have a former teammate trying to go pro while another is getting multiple degrees while being a graduate-assistant. Even after college, the majority still present themselves as athletes, not people working in jobs they earned through their degrees.
As I’m applying to graduate school, I make sure I present myself both academically and athletically: I remember that the skills and lessons I've learned from both parts of my college career can help create my future. But to those hiring and accepting, they might not see us as enough. So be considerate, because our four years were focused on both the end of our athletic career and our future. But which part goes first? Our goodbye to the past or hello to our future?
I’m Josefina Trella and this is my perspective.