by Logan Hanson
FightingIllini.com

It is not easy being a student-athlete. From practices to classes, from games to homework, student-athletes must find time to not only be successfully on the field, but also to get educated off the field. It becomes even more difficult when a course load is increased during the season, but when you are trying to go the medical school route, drastic measures must be taken. That is the scenario for senior tight end Austin Roberts as he is taking additional course hours on top of his athletic commitment to the Orange & Blue.

During his final season on the field, Roberts is also pursuing joint bachelor's/master's degrees in applied health sciences, working toward a B.S. in community health and a M.S. in public health simultaneously

"I'm currently doing my Master's in Public Health, it's a dual degree program so there was some overlap with my undergrad last year and now I'm kind of on an accelerated track so I can finish it up in five years," said Roberts, "Right now, I believe it's either 15 or 17 credit hours, I don't remember the exact number, but it is really tough Master's classes. Normally as soon as practice is done I'm running to class for a couple hours get a break for lunch then go right back to class again for a few hours before I have to come back to the stadium and watch film."

Roberts always had a desire to go into the medical field. This may be because his father, Kevin Roberts, is a podiatrist, but Roberts never saw his college path going any other way.

"It's always, always what I've wanted to be ever since I was a little kid," said Roberts, "My dad is a podiatrist, it's a foot and ankle surgeon, I really looked up to him and I always wanted to be like my dad so I'd say it came from my dad, but I never once in my life questioned it."

Roberts in his two worlds, on the football field and preparing to become a doctor.

During his football career, Roberts was able to experience the medical field first hand. An ACL tear during his 2013 high school season caused Roberts to miss games and a later knee injury at Illinois cut his sophomore season short. Roberts did not take the injuries as a negative, but rather an opportunity to help narrow down his focus in the medical field.

"It helped a lot. Ever since I was younger I wanted to be a doctor, but I wasn't quite sure what specialty I wanted to go into," said Roberts, "Then after I had my first knee surgery I saw my doctor back home, what he does on a day to day basis, the kinds of patients he sees, the kind of surgeries that he does and then after that I looked up on YouTube ACL reconstructions stuff, I wouldn't recommend looking at it it's pretty gruesome, but it's really cool to me to watch that."

This fall, Roberts's hard work for the Illini was rewarded as he was voted a team captain during the team's game against Western Illinois. It was a culmination for a senior player who has given so much time and effort to a program he wants to see succeed.

"That's an honor. Coming from the coaches and teammates, I am just so thankful for them," said Roberts, "I have been busting my butt here for a couple of years and at times its felt like nobody's noticed but I just kept putting my nose back to the grind stone so for my teammates and my coaches to recognize all that and for it to happen this year it's really special. I just want to say thank you to everyone in the program for giving me that opportunity.

Roberts, along with the small, nine-man senior class with veterans like Nick Allegretti, Mike Dudek, Sam Mays, and Chase McLaughlin, has helped change the culture for the players behind him.

"We talk a lot about changing the culture and I think we are working towards that and it's not going to happen overnight," said Roberts about the senior class, "If we can look back and say we were the ones that got that ball rolling, started tipping it the other way, I would love to see that so that the program could keep moving forward for the future."

As far as the future for Roberts goes, he will begin applying for medical schools in the spring. The process will continue throughout the summer and the fall with Roberts going through interviews with medical schools and then by around Christmas time next year he will know which medical school he attend for the following fall. Currently, Roberts does not have a concrete idea of where he would go, but he does have a few preferences.

"It's kind of one of those things where whoever wants me I'll go, but my family is from Wisconsin and Wisconsin has the Wisconsin Academy of Rural Medicine that's something I am really interested in, I am doing a lot of studies right now with my Master's in rural health and that would give me a chance to be closer to my family," said Roberts, "But also both my brothers go to West Virginia University and they have a med school there and my youngest sister is a senior in high school so it would be kind of cool to get the whole family in Morgantown together."

College life is not easy for a student-athlete, it becomes even more difficult when one wants to go into medical school. But for Austin Roberts, he did not want to take any other path and so far it has been one, as grueling as it may have been, that has paid dividends for his goal to enter medical school. With his level of commitment, Roberts will be able to switch his title from TE to M.D. very soon.