Students tend to assume that athletes have more perks in college. Most of these assumed “perks” are earned through hard work. Many of our athlete counterparts have endured countless obstacles to reach their goal of becoming a collegiate athlete.

Everyday college students fail to understand the tough realities of collegiate athletes being academically focused.

Athletes have priority registration, so they will actually be able to take the sophomore English class as a sophomore instead of having to take it junior year like most students end up doing due to the lack of seat availability.

John Cortez, a tight end for Sacramento State’s football team, is a prime example of an academically focused athlete.

Graduating from Lancaster High School in Lancaster, California, Cortez did not have a football scholarship but definitely felt he deserved one from the college he would choose to attend.

According to Cortez, not having a scholarship left him with a chip on his shoulder. He believed he deserved a scholarship from any college. When he enrolled at Sac State, he was determined to make the football roster. Being the “intense and ambitious athlete,” Cortez’s best friend and fellow Sac State business major, Chris Pogue, says he is, was bound to get him on the roster.

“I admire the sense of brotherhood, unity and overall positive environment of the team,” said Cortez. These are the core values he used as motivation to work his way on to the team.

Emotions ran high when Cortez found out he made the team.

“[I was] ecstatic about making the roster at the end of my first semester in college,” said Cortez. Still, he knew this was only a “stepping stone.”

Though hard work and dedication paid off for Cortez, challenges were still ahead. He already made the team, but still in pursuit of a football scholarship, Cortez tore his posterior cruciate ligament.

“Tearing my PCL was one of the greatest adversities I have ever faced thus far because it not only strained me physically, but also very heavily mentally to the point where I almost threw in the towel,” said Cortez.

Even though he felt like he would never get back on the gridiron again, he never gave up. When he was able to play ball again, Cortez was finally awarded a football scholarship.

Because there are not many walk-on athletes who receive a scholarship, tight-end coach Fred Kelley said, “[I] admire [Cortez’s] ability to follow through with his goals, especially being a walk-on athlete. He works for perfection each day.”

A junior now, Cortez is grateful for how far he has come. He continues to work harder everyday to become better and better.

Being a collegiate football player requires him to stay busy and on top of his school work. If he is not practicing, weight training or studying film of previous games, he is in class. He hopes to graduate with his bachelor’s degree in business in a year or two and plans to continue his education in law school and practice corporate law.

The National Football League would be ideal, he says, but unfortunately, standing at 6’4 he happens to be an inch too short according to the NFL. Still, we can never be too cynical about his odds; 49er tight end Vernon Davis is 6’3, and he has been making history with the 49er Empire for about nine years.

Hard work and determination led Davis to where he is, and if Cortez continues to be the great athlete coach Kelley says he is, then beating the odds is highly possible. Obstacles will come, but it is always up to you to let it consume you or not.