Golf is a Science
When I was writing my “About Me” page, I wanted my dad to look over it to ensure it sounded the way I wanted it to sound. He liked it, but said that I left out one important thing about myself; I was a college golfer pursing a degree in biochemistry. Whenever I play in college tournaments, one of the questions that we always ask each other in our playing groups is “What is your major?” I always respond with biochemistry. The reaction I get is the exact same every time; gasps and how much work it must be for me to do that.
Yes, it is a lot of work. This past semester I had to take the second semester of Organic Chemistry, and believe me that was very challenging to do while being in the height of our college golf season. Organic Chemistry is no joke and is seen as one of the hardest classes science majors have to take.
As mentioned before, I am a transfer. Athletics aside at Converse, I enjoyed the school very much. In particular, I picked it due to their biochemistry program. Being a science major and playing golf in college is something I was worried about doing, which was one of the reasons why I elected to play Division II golf at first. I knew it would be an easier balance between golf and school. And it was, in Division II, we traveled a lot less and missed far less school days for tournaments.
Many student-athletes at Converse were science majors, so it was very easy to find people in your classes that were similar to you, so I was a bit taken back when I struggled to find other athletes who were also science majors at BG. Luckily, my teammate, Mallory, was a forensic science major, so she guided me through the ups and downs of playing Division I golf while pursuing a challenging major. Besides her, the people I knew best in my science classes were not student-athletes.
It can be hard because there are a lot less people who you can relate to. At Converse, the two girls who lived across the hall from me, Ruth and Lauren, ran cross country and track. We all took Organic Chemistry together in the spring semester, so we leaned on each other to get through it. We all knew what it was like to be a student-athlete and be a science major.
If you want to pursue something out of the norm for student-athletes, do it. It will come with its challenges. It will come with its lonely nights spent in the library until midnight when you have to wake up at 6 am the next morning for team lift. It will come with you potentially crying in Coach’s office about how stressed you are about your test in two hours (yes that happened to me…more than once). But, if you truly care about what you are learning, it will be worth it. Being a student-athlete and a science major is hard, and not the norm, but combining both passions is a rewarding experience I wouldn’t trade anything for.
