We all have challenges in our lives. These challenges can contribute to temporary low level stress or outright mental health crises. Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. Mental health challenges can have adverse emotional, cognitive, and physical effects, altering the way we think and feel. Stress is part of the human experience, and sometimes, mental health crises are unavoidable, no matter who you are.
While challenges are inevitable, external factors can vary the amount of stress you have: having an important exam could increase pressure. At the same time, a trip to Mexico with your family could help you relax. Mental health challenges are especially prevalent for student-athletes, such as Chloe, a Division 1 diver at Columbia University Class of 2026, who has to balance the demands of being a student and an athlete.
Chloe, who just completed her first year at Columbia University, graduated from Menlo Atherton High School in 2022. Starting her diving career when she was 10, Chloe has balanced academic and athletic goals throughout middle school, high school, and now in college. When asked about diving, Chloe says, “Diving is stressful in some ways and calming in others.” You may wonder, “How could practicing a sport you love be stressful?” During her freshman year at Columbia on the pre-med track, Chloe took five courses per semester. Chloe has two daily practices, morning and evening. The required practices limited her in selection of classes and professors. On top of this rigorous training schedule, she also traveled with her team to many meets and competitions, missing classes that she was responsible for making up. In addition to the stress of competitions, there was frequently the added worry of making up missed work and exams.
Chloe says, “Striving to perform in a way that reflects how much our team trains can prove stressful. Learning new dives can be stressful, as it sometimes feels disorienting. My biggest worry is that athletics will prevent me from achieving non-athletic goals. With less time in the week to study or pursue other extracurriculars, I hope that athletics continues to allow me to pursue all my passions with the same effort that I devote to athletics.”
However, being a collegiate diver has many benefits. Chloe finds diving calming through aspects such as hanging out with teammates or using diving to clear her mind and care for her mental health. “Scheduled practices help me cope with stress by giving me breaks from all other parts of life, and competitions sometimes give me chances to explore new places. Supportive teammates and opportunities to compete against past teammates mitigate my stress by providing things I can look forward to.”
Whenever feeling pressure, Chloe copes by “calling my family or teammates, going on walks alone, listening to music, or reading a book.” Teammates often play a significant role in enhancing mood and promoting good mental health, as they can relate and empathize. When comparing team sports to individual sports, many assume that team sports create a less stressful environment than individual sports, as team sports allow individuals to fall back on each other. When Chloe was asked her opinion on the stress of sports in teams compared to individual sports, she comments, “With team sports can come the stress of letting others down or preventing others from reaching their goals. While individual sports can be stressful, they also allow the athlete to fully control their performance, practice regimen, and competition routine.”
Chloe has also stated that diving has taught her many life lessons that she wouldn't have learned from books. “Athletics can also cause a student-athlete to experience scheduling conflicts and feel overwhelmed at times. However, many of the things that I find easier due to being a student-athlete were built up over time. Athletics has provided me practice with time management skills, responsible planning, and goal setting.” Over time, many athletes rise to the challenges and overcome them. They become experts at handling things that would be stress-provoking to others. The lessons learned for how to cope translate into useful life lessons that can help them cope with many life challenges.
In the future, Chloe would like to be a physician, most likely an OB-GYN like her mother, and hopes that the rigors of being a student-athlete will prepare her for the demands of medical training.
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