By Jessica Jimenez — Staff Writer
Life as a student athlete can be an overwhelming and stressful time.
Trying to balance asocial, student and work life has its challenges and when an athlete succumbs to maintaining all of this, it can take a toll on their mental health.
If an athlete becomes injured, all aspects of life seem to crumble.
That’s what former-soccer goalkeeper Ana Calero endured during her sophomore year at San Jose State.
While at an away game in Montana during warmups, she turned her head believing she heard her name being called and when she turned back, the ball was shot straight to her face.
She desperately wanted to go back to playing soccer but couldn’t. To this day — a year and a half later — her symptoms have not gone away.
Not being able to exercise, the concussion has left Calero dealing with anxiety, which is something she has to take day by day.
Before her injury, balancing andmaintaining a productive life was anything but simple.
Her work life was nonexistent with doing random jobs on the side because there was not a set schedule for her.
As far as school, soccer and her social life, Calero found time in between practice and class to get homework done.
“You just find the little bits of time to try to get in assignments
or try to get in studying,” she said. “It’s just a balance and more about time management than anything.”
Calero believed everything was fine, but when she returned to practice at the soccer facilities, something felt very off. Concerned, Calero went to her trainer.
“We did the diagnosis, the concussion test and I had significant symptoms. Then the doctor officially diagnosed me,” she said. “It was really hard that first year because it never really got better.”
After sustaining her injury, the concussion gradually took over her life.
Right after she was diagnosed, a flood of constant headaches left her feeling depressed. Never knowing how she was going to feel left her questioning her capabilities.
“It was just a difficult up-and-down roller coaster,” Calero said.
When she was a part of the team, she still had to attend practices but sit on the sidelines watching and helping other players if necessary — a frustrating experience for the newly-injured athlete.
“That’s something really difficult because I was already so emotional and frustrated with my recovery,” she said. “It wasn’t going as quickly as I’d hoped so to still have a positive attitude at practice was hard.”
Facing all of these emotions and challenges of anxiety and depression would be hard for anyone.
Calero now treats her mental health one day at a time with journaling, talking to her family and counting her blessings on the positives rather than on the negatives.
SJSU faculty counselor and licensed psychologist Colleen Johnson believes it can be helpful for colleges and universities to hold workshops or small group discussions for student athletes to learn about numerous resources for help.
These resources can range from learning about coping skills, stress management, time management, emotional intelligence, depression, anxiety, healthy relationships, etc.
Calero wants to give athletes newly recovering from injuries advice on how to have an optimistic mindset.
“I’d say that the best thing to do is just trust the process of recovery,” she said. “Try and stay positive and be there for your team because they also need you at the same time. They need you to be better and still have a positive attitude.”
Kristen Heffley, a senior outfielder on the softball team can relate to finding the right balance to keep things afloat in her active life.
Heffley is appreciative of her coach for allowing players to have free time.
“We practice Tuesday mornings, Wednesday nights and Thursday mornings,” she said. “Typically, we travel Thursdays, get back Sundays and we’re off Monday. I’d say we have it pretty easy.”
For her student life, she says professors work with athletes to help ease the stress of trying to get everything accomplished.
Some professors will schedule a presentation on a Tuesday versus a Thursday in case she has to travel for a game.
As a justice studies major Heffley stays busy with internships, working with the record clearance project and helping out the department train other students on the law.
Being able to juggle all aspects of life doesn’t come easily for those involved in sports.
With four years under her belt as a student-athlete, Heffley is all too familiar with it.
The stress of 2017’s conference championship season was especially tough on her mental health.
Her anxiety surfaced to the point where she had to be prescribed medication.
Everything hit her all at once so quickly that balancing her student, athletic, social and work life became too much to maintain.
Johnson helps students by providing guidance in managing the stresses of life.
“It can be helpful for athletes to know and have access to talk with people who can be confidential and trusted to increase their safety,” Johnson said. “An athlete needs to feel that coming forward and sharing their perspective or experience will not result in any negative implication.”
Johnson advises that it is helpful to have mental health check-ups once in a while to assess and prevent struggles from occurring and/or worsening.
She also encourages athletes to have support systems that are not just made up of teammates and other athletes, but ones that live outside of the athletics bubble.
For her final year as an athlete, Heffley feels she’s more laid-back because she is adept to recognize her triggers.
“I got it under control,” she said. “I get overwhelmed if I have a lot to do and I get behind on homework … having to catch up is extremely stressful.”
Through these emotions, Heffley considers talking as stress-relief — as well as spending some quality time in front of the TV relaxing with her cat, Scotch.
In having a productive, balanced life, Heffley wants incoming softball athletes to just enjoy it even if it sounds cliché.
“Softball will only continue for four years, you’re not going to have a professional career with it,” she said. “So, just have fun while you’re able to.”
Overcoming pressures and finding the right stability in life is a hard concept for some athletes to grasp, but living day-to-day and treating mental health correctly will go a long way if allowed.
Follow Jessica on Twitter @jessicajim06