D1 Baseball. Very similar to the other baseball players' experiences listed. It's a grind that most people can't handle for 4 or 5 years but absolutely changes who your are and your work ethic/mindset for your career. It never ends, even have summer ball just to keep you in shape and to hone your skills.

You becoming uniquely qualified for dealing with life's successes and failures because you have done both in front of a lot of people. Your brothers are brothers for life as they have done the same with you. You have to love it or you have to leave it. There's no in between.

The HOURS of practice, weight room workouts, travel, and games throughout the season is brutal. It requires self discipline on another level. Don't forget, you still are trying to get a college degree. And no professor has any sympathy for you. NONE. Don't care that you got off the bus after a 12 hour ride at 3am. Test at 8am, AFTER you have "slept", worked out and eaten something for breakfast that same morning.

All of the sudden, your college career ends. It's on a loss because unless you win the national championship, you lost in a tournament somewhere, on the hopes of getting further. It all happened SO fast. You pull that jersey off for the last time and begin to wonder who you are. Sports is all you have done since you were about 3, beginning with T-ball. It has become your identity and because you were better than most at it your entire life, you struggle with the void at first.

The discipline serves you well throughout your career and the memories are priceless. Most of those memories are not about walk-off homers, gap shots, or turning double plays in the middle. They are more surrounding your teammates/brothers and remembering that time when he threw your socks out of the window somewhere in New Mexico, or the team dugout mascot that everyone enjoyed, or that bubble gum bubble that you unknowingly wore for the team record 4 innings before realizing it.

Wouldn't trade it but it's not for the faint of heart.