Living the College Athlete’s Dream…Until I’m Not
I worked hard and now I’m on a college team playing the sport I love. I had to get good grades and be a solid athlete to get here. But now my body is not cooperating. At first it was just little things like being sore that put me in the Training Room. Now it seems like I keep injuring myself and I’m sick a LOT.
And when I’m injured or sick, I can’t practice or play.
This is stressful! It puts my scholarship or playing time or both at risk.
Then the downward spiral starts to happen.
Guess how I know this trend…I was you.
I was constantly in the Training Room for an injury or illness that wasn’t serious enough to take me out of practice. By my junior year, I was so unhealthy that I was seeing multiple doctors and on 12 medications. Nine of those meds were “permanent”.
I was diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease, Allergies, and Asthma. I felt like a mess and I was depressed.
My playing time was constantly at stake. I was mostly on the bench. My grades were suffering because I struggled to make it to class. I had given up on this being my dream anymore. I was on the brink of giving up on life. It was dark in my head.
Several events made me realize I wasn’t in the right place. But those events had to become very “extreme” for me to see the signs and do what I needed for my mental wellbeing.
I quit the team. Then I quit this school.
I took a year off from softball to get a mental break and do a lot of testing to figure out what was really going on because an IBS diagnosis isn’t a complete answer. And I wanted off all the drugs they put me on.
I ended up going to another school and playing softball again. I found a much healthier way to live and do all the things I love.
Now I’m off all those medications. I take some supplements on and off to help when stuff gets out of whack. But I’m able to play the sports I love and live a very normal life again.
If this is where you’d like to be, let’s connect! I can help you get on the road to recovery, playing again, and living life without pain and fear that you’ll miss something.
Browse more posts from Amanda's blog
About Amanda
She’s a mechanical and aerospace engineer who’s worked for NASA. She’s also a natural deep intuitive. She helped design the interior and exterior of the crew module on NASA’s Artemis Program. In fact, one of her first engineering jobs was designing specialized toilets for submarines, airplanes, and prisons. She used both her intuitive communication abilities and her mechanic engineering mind, as an example, working directly with astronauts to develop a bathroom that works in space. She’s always bridged her deep intuitive gift with her agile engineering mind to create real-life solutions that work both pragmatically and emotionally for people.
A lifelong athlete, she was also an NCAA Division I and Division II athlete, which drove her into emotional and physical…