Hard work mentality: effort counts in athletics, schoolwork

Column by Ashley Beall

On Tuesdays and Thursdays after practice, our whole team heads to the weight room for an hour lifting session.

It consists of pre-work stretching, different types of weight exercises and then some sort of circuit.

As a freshman, I would usually dread weights because it was something I’d never really done in high school. It wasn’t until this year that I started to notice the impact it was having on me.

To be honest, there were times during my freshman year where I wouldn’t finish every rep or exercise, and that didn’t really bother me.

But now, as a member of the varsity team, I know better.

I’m not the strongest, I’m not the fastest and I am by no means the best rower on the team.

I’ve talked to my coaches, and the feedback is always the same: I need to work harder.

That’s what’s been my mentality from the very start of the year. I need to push myself. It starts with practice on the water and ends in the weight room.

Every time in the weight room, I can feel myself getting stronger.

The weights are getting heavier, and I actually don’t mind the pain or the sweat anymore. It just motivates me.

When there’s a crack in my mentality and I think maybe I’ll just cut down my reps or not finish the whole circuit, I just think to myself, “Is that going to get me where I want to be?” It’s my mantra every time I practice.

This mentality also ties into my schoolwork. It’s so easy to just skip class and take a nap to catch up on what little sleep I get, but it does nothing to benefit me.

We’re here to get an education that’s going to put us in a prime position to get a job after we graduate, and that job is, hopefully, going to be a passion that we have the rest of our lives.

But if we just skip class, we’re cheating nobody but ourselves. Our professors’ lives will continue, and it won’t affect them as much it will affect us.

I’m not trying to sound like Miss Goody Two Shoes because believe me, I’ve had those days where I haven’t made it to class, but I’m trying to limit it to the days where I’m actually sick, not just sick of school.

So basically here’s my ultimate lesson that I’ve learned: Every rep counts. Not just in the weight room, but in life too.

Beall is a sophomore public relations and English double major and can be reached at ashley.beall@drake.edu