To All Student-Athletes Beginning Their Respective Seasons, Remember Why You Play

To All Student-Athletes Beginning Their Respective Seasons, Remember Why You Play

You are going to get tired. You are going to get worn out...

_reaganwat
_reaganwat Jan 17, 2019
56162
views

Dear Athlete,

The season is by far the most exciting time of the year. Big plays, good memories, traveling new places, and winning championships... But yet another promise is that season is also exhausting.

You are going to get tired. You are going to get worn out...

But remember that this season of your life doesn't last forever. Remind yourself why you play.

You play this sport because you love the game. You love the competition, you love your teammates and the friendships that you've formed, you love the lessons you learn aside from the physical aspect.

So each day, continue to choose the game.

It's not easy. But if it was, everyone would do it. But discomfort is where progress happens.

Quit dreading practices, quit wishing for rain, quit complaining about conditioning, and quit taking for granted a busy schedule that is literally made just for you. Tens of thousands of young girls and boys would do anything to be in the position (literally) that you are in. Take advantage of being a role model to those young kids who think the world of you.

Freshmen, this is what you have wanted for so long. Take advantage of the newness, take advantage of the advice, encouragement, and constructive criticism that your older teammates give you. Soak it all in, four years goes by really quickly.

Sophomores, you now know how it works. Be confident in your abilities, yet continue to learn and grow mentally and in your position.

Juniors, prepare to take the lead. Use this season to, of course, continue to sharpen your skill, but also recognize that you're over halfway done, so mentally and physically ready yourself to take the seniors' lead next year.

Seniors, this is it. Your last year of playing the sport that you love. Be a good leader, motivate, and leave your mark on the program in which you have loved for so long. Encourage the athletes behind you to continue the traditions and standards set by the program. Lay it all on the field, leave it all on the court, and leave your program better than you found it.

Take the season one day at a time and, each day, make it your goal to get better. Get better for your team, for you pushing yourself makes everyone else work even harder. So even if you don't get a lot of playing time, make your teammates better by pushing yourself so hard that they have no other choice than to push themselves too. And when a team has every single player pushing themselves to the max, success happens.

Take advantage of this time with your teammates and coaches, for they won't be your teammates and coaches forever.

No matter what year you are and no matter what your role is this season... GROW. You are an integral part of your team and your program.

_reaganwat
_reaganwat Jan 17, 2019
At Jacksonville State University

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To The Person Who Feels Suicidal But Doesn't Want To Die

Suicidal thoughts are not black and white.
Mia McLaughlin
Mia McLaughlin Nov 12, 2017
2626823
views

Everyone assumes that if you have suicidal thoughts that means you want to die.

From an outside perspective, suicidal thoughts are rarely looked into deeper than the surface level. Either you have suicidal thoughts and you want to die, or you don't have suicidal thoughts and you want to live. What most people don't understand is that people live in between those two statements, I for one am one of them.

I've had suicidal thoughts since I was a kid.

My first recollection of it was when I came home after school one day and got in trouble, and while I was just sitting in the dining room I kept thinking, “I wonder what it would be like to take a knife from the kitchen and just shove it into my stomach." I didn't want to die, or even hurt myself for that matter. But those thoughts haven't stopped since.

I've thought about going into the bathroom and taking every single pill I could find and just drifting to sleep and never waking back up, I've thought about hurting myself to take the pain away, just a few days ago on my way to work I thought about driving my car straight into a tree. But I didn't. Why? Because even though that urge was so strong, I didn't want to die. I still don't, I don't want my life to end.

I don't think I've ever told anyone about these feelings. I don't want others to worry because the first thing anyone thinks when you tell them you have thoughts about hurting or killing yourself is that you're absolutely going to do it and they begin to panic. Yes, I have suicidal thoughts, but I don't want to die.

It's a confusing feeling, it's a scary feeling.

When the depression takes over you feel like you aren't in control. It's like you're drowning.

Every bad memory, every single thing that hurt you, every bad thing you've ever done comes back and grabs you by the ankle and drags you back under the water just as you're about the reach the surface. It's suffocating and not being able to do anything about it.

The hardest part is you never know when these thoughts are going to come. Some days you're just so happy and can't believe how good your life is, and the very next day you could be alone in a dark room unable to see because of the tears welling up in your eyes and thinking you'd be better off dead.

You feel alone, you feel like a burden to everyone around you, you feel like the world would be better off without you. I wish it was something I could just turn off but I can't, no matter how hard I try.

These feelings come in waves.

It feels like you're swimming and the sun is shining and you're having a great time until a wave comes and sucks you under into the darkness of the water. No matter how hard you try to reach the surface again a new wave comes and hits you back under again, and again, and again.

And then it just stops.

But you never know when the next wave is going to come. You never know when you're going to be sucked back under.

I always wondered if I was the only one like this.

It didn't make any sense to me, how did I think about suicide so often but not want to die? But I was thinking about it in black and white, I thought I wasn't allowed to have those feelings since I wasn't going to act on them. But then I read articles much like this one and I realized I'm not the only one. Suicidal thoughts aren't black and white, and my feelings are valid.

To everyone who feels this way, you aren't alone.

I thought I was for the longest time, I thought I was the only one who felt this way and I didn't understand how I could feel this way. But please, I implore you to talk to someone, anyone, about the way you're feeling, whether it be a family member, significant other, a friend, a therapist.

My biggest mistake all these years was never telling anyone how I feel in fear that they would either brush me off because “who could be suicidal but not want to die?" or panic and try to commit me to a hospital or something. Writing this article has been the greatest feeling of relief I've felt in a long time, talking about it helps. I know it's scary to tell people how you're feeling, but you're not alone and you don't have to go through this alone.

Suicidal thoughts aren't black and white, your feelings are valid, and there are people here for you. You are not alone.

If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts, call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline — 1-800-273-8255


Cover Image Credit: BengaliClicker
Mia McLaughlin
Mia McLaughlin Nov 12, 2017
At Michigan State University

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My Seizures Have The Ability To Throw Me To The Ground, But I'm Still Choosing To See The Positive

You would have like to start your day off on a brighter note.

Emily Henrichs
Emily Henrichs Jun 18, 2019
37
views

You have just woken up. You go to the bathroom. In a matter of seconds, you find yourself lying on the bathroom floor because of a seizure.

I write about my seizures frequently. It's how I cope. When I have a seizure, how I let out all of the unknown feelings is writing. I have numerous journals full of all the stories about my seizures and feelings that came with them.

This story, however, started as a normal morning would start. I had just woken up. I went to the bathroom. I would quickly find myself lying on the bathroom floor between the wall and the toilet. Fun, right!? I had been in similar positions before. I know what to do. I make sure I'm strong enough to stand up without falling. I make sure I didn't bite my tongue or lip. And I make sure nothing feels sore right now. Everything was good. I went back to normal life.

I took my medication, got some breakfast, and went back to my room. I was tired again. I was frustrated. I had just woken up and I already had a seizure. I always think of the what if. What if I hit my head? What if I got seriously hurt? What if I woke up and didn't know who I was? What if I didn't know where I was?

You have just woken up and all of a sudden you are on the bathroom floor. You know how you got there. You wish it wasn't like this. You would have liked to start your day off on a brighter note. Your brain decided to steal that from you. Your brain decided it wants to mess with you.

You have just woken up and thought today was going to be great. It starts out on the bathroom floor because of a seizure. You're not hurt but it still sucks. You have to go on about your day totally normal. You can't have a pity party because that's not how life works. You have to go to work. You have to live.

Finding yourself on the bathroom floor isn't fun.

It isn't fun to be aware of all of it. It isn't fun to know exactly why you're now lying on the floor squeezed against the wall and toilet. It's happened to me far too often. Imagine it for a second. You're helplessly lying there. You can't talk. No one is home.

Despite all of this, today can be beautiful. It will be beautiful! Life may throw curveballs our way, but we get to decide how we handle it. I know I choose to look at the positive. I could have hit my head. I could have broken a bone. I didn't, though. I can look at the negative side of things or I can see the positive side of things. I choose to see the positive.

Emily Henrichs
Emily Henrichs Jun 18, 2019
At Illinois State University

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