While the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect the entire world, many of us have experienced upheaval in our lives and are finding ways to adapt to a new – hopefully brief – reality and way of life. Among those of us affected are collegiate athletes. Not only have sporting events and large tournaments like March Madness been canceled, but many student athletes are finding their new normal involves learning remotely, training away from teammates and coaches, and above all else – staying healthy.
The Foundation for Global Sports Development and Sidewinder Films reached out to a group of collegiate athletes and asked them to write about their experiences with COVID-19 so far and offer encouragement to their peers and younger student athletes who may be facing similar struggles. Some athletes have chosen to remain anonymous.
Hi, my name is Allie. I’m a college freshman and on my college’s sailing team. I, like many others, typically thrive on routine, structure, and the “mundane” reality that each day will be similar to the last with mild variations. I have been this way my entire life and that’s how I have coped with challenging times and have learned to thrive in this world.
But, much to my chagrin, not all times are smooth sailing that allow you to open up your life’s “playbook” and refer to a previous play to make appropriate decisions. The world we are living in now, is one of those times! I find it unsettling because we don’t know an end date, yet there is an invisible killer in our midst.
In any challenging time in my life, I have found peace in the following: “a diamond is a chunk of coal that did well under pressure” (Henry Kissinger), “a smooth sea never made a skillful sailor” and lastly, “when you feel like quitting, remember why you started”. However, in times like the present, where showing gratitude and appreciation seem like an impossible fantasy, they are not. Be grateful for what you have; appreciate what you have done and what has been done for you.
This all seems impossible. And yes, I am in fact this woefully optimistic about most of life much of the time, but it is only because on the inside I know what there is to be fearful for. It is only because I have seen what there is to scream about. As a human, I have struggled. As a woman, I have been hurt, but I am still here, and I am not going anywhere.
Most recently, I struggled to adjust to college life and being a freshman on a collegiate sports team.
It is hard. There is no other way to put it. It’s something new and you can either look at it as a mountain too high to ever climb or a mere hill that you’ll summit. From this adjustment, I learned to never let a day go by without learning something new; never let an hour go by that you don’t set a new goal for yourself and try try try to enjoy the present.
Take this mandatory stay at home time to collect and organize your thoughts and set your goals. Read that book you have always wanted to read; watch that movie you’ve always heard about.
For me, I have recently learned how to make a perfect sunny side up egg, and set a goal for myself to read a book a week.
Our world is facing a storm right now, but we are facing this storm together and soon enough this storm will pass, and a sunny day will follow.
