I wonder how many of you, lounging half-asleep in your 8- or 9-o'-clock classes, have ever noticed a wet-haired student dressed in old sweats and Tevas, face flushed, rush into class just as the professor is beginning the lecture.
As the student maneuvers along the row of seats to the empty one next to you, you notice the oval impressions left from something pressed around her eyes. She sits down, and the strong whiff of chlorine gives her away: swim team.
Swimming is perhaps one of the most training-intensive sports, demanding long hours of high-quality effort to build stamina and speed to compete in a medium essentially unnatural to the human physique.
Only the initiated can appreciate the mental effort required for a swimmer, poised in the darkness at the end of the pool, to dive off the edge and out of the comfort zone into the still, cold water and begin a two-hour workout.
Those two hours demand constant concentration and drive, during which time you push your body beyond its limits, past the pain and fatigue, competing head-to-head with your teammates, always with an eye on that best friend and enemy, the clock.
Back to that early class you were sitting in: The swimmer, between taking notes, eats a banana, a bagel, an apple, yogurt - how much more food can she fit in her backpack?
The undeniable urge to sleep usually hits her within an hour after getting out the water, but after morning classes it is back to the pool at 2:30 for another two-and-a-half hours of practice. On alternate days, the team also has a dry-land workout, including running and weights.
Physical exhaustion is one of the most challenging aspects in the everyday lives of all student athletes. When it is time to study, the mind can be willing, but the body might need a little extra encouragement. Freshmen are required to spend up to 10 hours a week in study hall to promote good habits.
Swimmers and divers in general, however busy their training schedules, never seem to be satisfied purely with achievement in the pool.
The UH team has in past years maintained one of the highest team GPAs on campus, and members have also been active as leaders in numerous campus organizations and in the community.
It would be very easy for swimmers and divers just to go back and forth from the pool and class every day, but they don't. In the same way, it is all too easy for commuter students to drive to school and drive right back home again, never really feeling they are a part of the UH community.
Many of them, however, do make an effort to play an active role in campus life. My aim is not to glorify the swimming and diving team, however much I love them. Rather, I have a challenge for every swimmer, every diver, every student athlete and every other UH student: Get involved on campus and in the Houston community. There are plenty of student organizations for everyone and ample opportunity to form others wherever an interest lies.
It is only in this way that you will make the most of your education at the University of Houston.
Nicola Clegg is a member of the University of Houston Student Foundation, an organization that works closely with the Houston Alumni Organization to prepare students for future roles in support of the University of Houston.