What's the Difference?

What is the difference between being an SPU student vs. being an SPU student athlete?
For some people, being a student in college is not enough. They want to take their sport to the next level: NCAA. It takes a certain type of person to be a student athlete. Obviously they have to be highly competitive in their sport, but they must also take on the challenge of juggling school with sport. Time is stretched thin in college, but I always say if you’re not busy, you’re bored.
Being an athlete at SPU is a privilege and it comes with perks. If you were recruited from high school, chances are that your coach gave you some athletic money. You get free SPU gear for your sport (For example: shoes, socks, shorts, shirts, sweats, backpack, etc.). Some teams have their own personal locker-room, but if they don’t they can use the Varsity Locker Rooms. Athletes also get to use the weight room during ‘Varsity Hours’, but the irony is that Varsity Hours are the busiest and worst time to work out. As athletes we get to avoid the waitlists of registering for classes because we get to register first. We also get to be excused from class due to traveling. Athletes get fully expenses paid trips to play GNAC competitions at Fairbanks, Anchorage, Billings, Nampa, and Monmouth along with day trips to Bellingham, Ellensburg, and Olympia. We have access to a fantastic training staff (Love you, Julie) that is fully equipped with every shaped band-aid known to man. Our Athletic Department Administration makes sure we are in line with NCAA rules and can get us free tutoring if needed.
Personally I think being on an athletic team sets up your social life. You grow close to those people you are around all the time and who understand where you are coming from: your teammates. My team (Volleyball) is very close. I do not have that many outside friends from SPU that are just students because I do not have a lot of time, I miss a lot of social events due to traveling, and they may or may not understand. I find that the athletic teams hang out with each other, there is some mixing, but for the most part we stick with the people we know, love, and trust.

Paige Hoffman