As we reach the midpoint of the season, it is starting to set in just how little time that I have left playing college football. At this point, I do not believe that it is realistic to think that I will play at the next level based on how I feel I have been playing this season, so these will very likely be the last five games of football that I will have in my life (hoping that I stay healthy for all five of course).
Personal Updates
Even though dates and times are arbitrary to a certain degree, I still find it helpful that there are these natural checkpoints in my life right now. Whether it be with football each week, midterms and break week with school, or even the start of a new month, I have been trying to avoid saying things like, "I will wait until November to do this," or "wait until after the season," or "after midterms." That being said, I feel like this break week has come at a great time because I think I have started to get into a groove with my classes to some degree, and also I am starting to click on the football field.
Midterms definitely did not pan out the way that I was hoping they would, and by midterms, I suppose I just mean the one in-class midterm that I was worried about. I do not know what it was but I totally was blindsided by the time constraint on our exam. Granted, it was the first exam that I have taken in-person in quite some time, but it was not even a factor that I considered going into the test. I prepared fairly well in pretty much every other aspect and knew the material, but did not expect to run out of time. I was not sitting near a clock during the exam and did not wear my watch and so only received a warning when there were 10 minutes left and I still had a quarter of the test left.
I am awaiting the results of the midterm, but hopes are definitely not high for my own score. I suppose that the only thing that I can hope for is a decent curve, but I do not think that is likely as there are a lot of very intelligent people in the class. Regardless, I will have to prepare much better and be cognizant of the timing of questions in exams moving forward and especially on the final which will make or break my grade in the course.
Football-wise, I had a pretty good week. Our opponent this week, Brown, was definitely not the strongest that I have seen so far, especially on the interior which is the primary part of the defense that I go up against. I had a pretty decent game save for some mental and physical errors here and there but was ultimately able to get a "Tiger Top" performer of the week nomination which was comforting especially after the emotional turbulence of the week and doing poorly on midterms. This is my second time gaining this recognition this year, the first of which was after the Columbia game. These were our two ivy league opponents that we have had so far, so it is good, at least mentally, to feel like I am playing well against ivy league opponents as we only have ivy league games left.
We definitely have our biggest challenge of the year this week with Harvard and we will have to put together a full game as a team against a strong opponent which we have yet to do this year. The main thing that I can do to prepare this week will be to make sure that I am locked in on my assignments and techniques and take advantage of the additional time that I have to make sure that my body is at its best for game day. It is also our homecoming game and our second to last home game so emotions will definitely be high.
Books/Other
This coming week will likely be the first week that I am able to add any books to my reading list since the start of camp in August. With the chaos of school and all of the responsibilities that I have had looming over my shoulders in the past two months, this week is a good opportunity to go back to reading for pleasure, and I think that I could sneak in an audiobook or two. We also had our first overnight trip of the year this past weekend for Brown, and I was able to take advantage of the time on the bus to catch up on all of the podcasts that I have been listening too which I kind of slacked on for midterms week, and was also able to listen to some music which is something that I have gotten away from with the craziness of in-season life.
I am planning now to continue to listen to these same podcasts, but also try to get a book or two in this week while also chipping away at my thesis and hopefully getting ahead in my classes. I now realize that with our three remaining away games I will likely be able to sneak in another book or two on the road/in the hotel room the night before the game. It is definitely hard for me to do school work or be super productive when cramped on a bus, but reading a book or listening to books/podcasts is not so bad.
Gratitude
Yet another week has gone by and major injuries have spared me. I definitely have not escaped all of the games so far completely unscathed. I am definitely bruised and sore pretty much all over my body but compared to last season when I had a torn MCL, two hyperextended elbows, an ankle problem, and several broken/jammed fingers, I am definitely grateful for my continued health. Knowing how much it really stinks to be injured from last year's season and the ups and downs of my off-season injuries, I am making a concerted effort to try to make the most of the time when I am not injured and play to the best of my ability. \
Whenever you get hurt you make promises to yourself that if you were better you would do x, y, and z to strengthen this or that, and then once you actually do get better you forget all about it, and the cycle repeats. I do not think that I have been doing as good of a job with keeping up my pre-hab, but that will definitely be a focus this week during break week, and I hope I can start to develop some routines that will help me to continue to stay healthy and have the opportunity to play at my full potential.