Audrey Nicholson
Staying Balanced
Collegiate athletics are a goal so many shoot for without really considering what happens upon arrival. The years committed to playing a sport in college can be some of the most unpredictable of your entire career. It seems like you arrive on campus and play 4 years with a great team, working with the coach who recruited you to achieve the victories you've been visualizing through your childhood. But I've learned that this destination image might be the exception rather than the rule. Coaches come and go, players play for a year or five, and staying healthy (mentally and physically) is not as easy as it seems. What you expect when you reach the NCAA destination might not be what you get. Through it all, stay balanced.
I was not balanced when I showed up to Boston University to play college basketball. I committed because a great coach (who left before my freshmen year) had offered me a chance to play, and I seized it. I was there FOR BASKETBALL. When I showed up my freshmen year my degree was secondary, my relationships were secondary, even my faith was on a back burner because I had been so focused on this one goal. And then it all came crashing down. I had the knee surgery of all knee surgeries, replacing cartilage and moving bones to prevent a knee replacement that looked like it'd be necessary before I graduated college.
And so I didn't have basketball. I had rehab, but that didn't give me the same joy. I had school, but I was having a hard time being as invested as I was in sport. I had friends, but most of them were getting to play their sport and it left me isolated. I had a coaching staff, but they were busy acclimating to their first year on the job. I had faith, but I wasn't praying. I was severely out of balance.
Over the course of two years, I worked my way back to playing a little bit of basketball but was ultimately medically retired after my sophomore year. At the time it was a decision made for me in my best interest, and I resented it completely. But now I have learned something invaluable from it: I need balance. Sport has taught me just how unexpected life can be. How rewarding it can be, but also how painful it can be. It's hard. Even if you love it and it brings you joy. But if you have balance...
Since my retirement from basketball, I have reinvested myself in my family, faith, friends, as well as my academic and professional careers. For me, it was easy to have tunnel vision when it came to basketball. I gave it all of my energy. Only when it was gone did I realize how I'd neglected other important things in my life. I do believe balance is possible to achieve while playing a sport- I am not saying it isn't. I am saying that without balance, it is almost impossible to withstand and overcome the intense challenges that are rarely talked about when it comes to high-level athletics. I have learned that sports can shape people for the long term, but they aren't something you can play forever. That alone makes it worth investing in other important parts of your life. I have missed basketball every day since I've stopped playing, but with some hard-earned balance, I am now a much stronger person.
Audrey Nicholson
IG: @nicholson_a2