My college years were a defining time in my mental health journey. Had I known then that what I was struggling with was anxiety, much of what I struggled with could have been very different. With the stress of shifting friendships, joining and leaving student organizations, a newfound sense of freedom, and the strain of full-time academics, I thought it was just how college was supposed to be. In hindsight, that didn’t have to be the truth. These are the 5 things I would have done differently to care for my mental health: If I could talk to my 18-22-year-old self, these are the tools I’d tell her to embrace. Without exception, anxiety and depression lose the battle in your mind when you choose to connect with a trusted, loved person in your life. Anxiety and depression lose when you speak about your struggle, rather than burying it down deep. If you’re going back to school this semester worried about how you’ll make it through another panic attack, another day when getting out of bed feels impossible, another day when the anxious thoughts are so loud you don’t know what’s true, I implore you to take these nuggets and include…
If you were one of the 32 million Americans reportedly tuning into the 2024 Olympics, you know Simone Biles had an amazing redemption tour. She’s brought a few medals home to add to her already impressive collection, but that is, arguably, not the most significant impact she made. Simone Biles spent 4 years working on her mental health. She returned to the Olympics and killed it. What is this teaching the millions of young female athletes watching and learning from her? Great athleticism and mental health do not have to be mutually exclusive. They watched the GOAT in her element with a genuine smile and a matt-side meditation practice. She challenged the idea that athletic success must be a miserable journey. Why? Because, as she says, “mental health matters”. This is a defining moment in the conversation around mental health in athletics. Your athletes are learning. They are celebrating her accomplishments and they are celebrating her bravery in her willingness to be vulnerable. Are you? As a coach, a mentor, or a leader in athletics, are you creating a safe space to discuss mental health? The reality is, this conversation saves lives. Even if we take Simone Biles’ passionate display…
This morning, I sat down to write with an old song stuck in my head. It was Magic by B.O.B. It used to be one of my favorites in college. As I listen to the song, now on the third replay, I can’t help but take a walk down memory lane. All these sweet memories of college mornings when I was in an ultra-peppy mood, listening to my iPod as I walked to class, and generally feeling good about life that day. It was such a sweet and stressful time; when friends were so close, and it felt like anything was possible. It was just the beginning of adulthood. We’d build forts in shared living spaces and watch teenage dramas as we stared down the reality of choosing a major and career for the rest of our lives. The boys’ dorms were barely more than a bed and a laundry basket, while the girls’ dorms were beautifully decorated and smelled nice. We were all growing up together and playing with some of the boundaries of our bodies. Stay up all night before an exam? Sure. Go out to the bars on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night? Done and done. Walk…
I was trying to make a difficult decision the other day. Indecision causes stress, or, should I say, it causes me stress, so the weight of it all was getting to me. Do I commit to one option and sacrifice the other? How do I know which option guarantees success? What if option A leads to exhaustion and disappointment? What if option B could be really fulfilling? These questions kept rolling over and over in my mind like a hamster on a wheel. I felt stuck, stressed, and desperate for clarity. “I wish I could just google it,” I thought. Wouldn’t it be great if Google had all the answers to our most pressing questions? What should I do with my life? Do I even have a calling? Should I take the leap? Do I need to make a change? Should I take the job? Do they actually care? Is it worth the investment? Will I be safe? Will I be loved? Will I be happy? To my own dismay, I knew Google wouldn’t have the answer I was looking for. As much as I love typing a question into the toggle bar and clicking “search”, I knew the map…
A few weeks ago, I made a gift for a very dear friend. It was a colorfully embroidered piece of denim that said “Follow Your Heart.” Luckily for me, she really enjoyed and appreciated it. I am following that piece of advice, and as much as I hope she does too, let me tell you all this: it’s freaking terrifying. Following your heart isn’t always an easy thing to do. In less than a month, I will be graduating high school. A matter of weeks after that, I will be moving across the country to North Carolina. Once there, I will be studying Public Health with a concentration in pre-health professions at East Carolina University with the hopes of going on to medical school. From there, I hope to become either a pediatric or reconstructive plastic surgeon, or maybe something else entirely. There’s only thing I know for sure, and that’s that I want to go to medical school. This is so scary to me because I’m the first one in my family to go to college right after high school, and the only to plan on going to graduate school. My father doesn’t have a degree and my mother…
How to hack your mental health this semester
My college years were a defining time in my mental health journey. Had I known then that what I was struggling with was anxiety, much of what I struggled with could have been very different. With the stress of shifting friendships, joining and leaving student organizations, a newfound sense of freedom, and the strain of full-time academics, I thought it was just how college was supposed to be. In hindsight, that didn’t have to be the truth. These are the 5 things I would have done differently to care for my mental health: If I could talk to my 18-22-year-old self, these are the tools I’d tell her to embrace. Without exception, anxiety and depression lose the battle in your mind when you choose to connect with a trusted, loved person in your life. Anxiety and depression lose when you speak about your struggle, rather than burying it down deep. If you’re going back to school this semester worried about how you’ll make it through another panic attack, another day when getting out of bed feels impossible, another day when the anxious thoughts are so loud you don’t know what’s true, I implore you to take these nuggets and include…
Your student-athletes are watching Simone Biles. Are you?
If you were one of the 32 million Americans reportedly tuning into the 2024 Olympics, you know Simone Biles had an amazing redemption tour. She’s brought a few medals home to add to her already impressive collection, but that is, arguably, not the most significant impact she made. Simone Biles spent 4 years working on her mental health. She returned to the Olympics and killed it. What is this teaching the millions of young female athletes watching and learning from her? Great athleticism and mental health do not have to be mutually exclusive. They watched the GOAT in her element with a genuine smile and a matt-side meditation practice. She challenged the idea that athletic success must be a miserable journey. Why? Because, as she says, “mental health matters”. This is a defining moment in the conversation around mental health in athletics. Your athletes are learning. They are celebrating her accomplishments and they are celebrating her bravery in her willingness to be vulnerable. Are you? As a coach, a mentor, or a leader in athletics, are you creating a safe space to discuss mental health? The reality is, this conversation saves lives. Even if we take Simone Biles’ passionate display…
A practice in grace
This morning, I sat down to write with an old song stuck in my head. It was Magic by B.O.B. It used to be one of my favorites in college. As I listen to the song, now on the third replay, I can’t help but take a walk down memory lane. All these sweet memories of college mornings when I was in an ultra-peppy mood, listening to my iPod as I walked to class, and generally feeling good about life that day. It was such a sweet and stressful time; when friends were so close, and it felt like anything was possible. It was just the beginning of adulthood. We’d build forts in shared living spaces and watch teenage dramas as we stared down the reality of choosing a major and career for the rest of our lives. The boys’ dorms were barely more than a bed and a laundry basket, while the girls’ dorms were beautifully decorated and smelled nice. We were all growing up together and playing with some of the boundaries of our bodies. Stay up all night before an exam? Sure. Go out to the bars on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night? Done and done. Walk…
Hey Google, what should I do with my life?
I was trying to make a difficult decision the other day. Indecision causes stress, or, should I say, it causes me stress, so the weight of it all was getting to me. Do I commit to one option and sacrifice the other? How do I know which option guarantees success? What if option A leads to exhaustion and disappointment? What if option B could be really fulfilling? These questions kept rolling over and over in my mind like a hamster on a wheel. I felt stuck, stressed, and desperate for clarity. “I wish I could just google it,” I thought. Wouldn’t it be great if Google had all the answers to our most pressing questions? What should I do with my life? Do I even have a calling? Should I take the leap? Do I need to make a change? Should I take the job? Do they actually care? Is it worth the investment? Will I be safe? Will I be loved? Will I be happy? To my own dismay, I knew Google wouldn’t have the answer I was looking for. As much as I love typing a question into the toggle bar and clicking “search”, I knew the map…
Follow Your Heart
A few weeks ago, I made a gift for a very dear friend. It was a colorfully embroidered piece of denim that said “Follow Your Heart.” Luckily for me, she really enjoyed and appreciated it. I am following that piece of advice, and as much as I hope she does too, let me tell you all this: it’s freaking terrifying. Following your heart isn’t always an easy thing to do. In less than a month, I will be graduating high school. A matter of weeks after that, I will be moving across the country to North Carolina. Once there, I will be studying Public Health with a concentration in pre-health professions at East Carolina University with the hopes of going on to medical school. From there, I hope to become either a pediatric or reconstructive plastic surgeon, or maybe something else entirely. There’s only thing I know for sure, and that’s that I want to go to medical school. This is so scary to me because I’m the first one in my family to go to college right after high school, and the only to plan on going to graduate school. My father doesn’t have a degree and my mother…