By Quinn Bermingham
The average college student grapples with feelings of stress, anxiety and pressure all too often. But for student-athletes in particular, balancing the commitment of a sport with everything else that college entails can be exceptionally challenging.
“I think we should be facilitating conversations about how to stay emotionally healthy,” said Maggie Munschauer ’22, a student-athlete at St. Lawrence. Since joining the women’s golf team in February, Munschauer has struggled at times to stay organized in and outside of the classroom. “Even though I’ve absolutely loved the experience so far, I think everyone who’s a student-athlete knows what it’s like to be a little overwhelmed sometimes,” she said. “The key is being able to talk about it openly and honestly with other people so you can properly move forward.”
Ben Barba ’22, a member of the St. Lawrence Men’s Football Team, believes student-athletes need to find stability between schoolwork and their respective sports in order to manage stress levels. “If the combination of academics and athletics is becoming too much, there should always be places on campus we can turn to for help,” Barba said. “I play football here because I love the team and I love the sport. If it starts feeling like too much of a burden, that’s when I know something isn’t right,” he added.
Bob Durocher, director of Athletics and Recreation at St. Lawrence, agrees that mental health for student-athletes is of the utmost importance. Specifically, Durocher thinks that it can be detrimental for students to get too caught up in athletic results or performance. “When I hear our student-athletes talking about pressure playing sports, it bothers me. Because it’s supposed to be fun,” he said. “It’s about the process, not the outcomes.”
As the overseer of a respected athletic program, Durocher is actively looking for ways to give student-athletes the outlets they need to manage stress. “One of the things we’re trying to do a better job of is making sure students know what we already have available. Because we do have a lot of good things available,” Durocher said. “But we haven’t packaged them so they’re easy to access and I think that’s an important step that we need and are currently working on.”
For many student-athletes participating in a spring sport at St. Lawrence, the end of the athletic season corresponds almost exactly with the end of the school year. The Liberty League Tennis Championships, for example, take place in early May, the weekend before most St. Lawrence students have final exams.
“I think mental health is absolutely critical. It’s really the foundation of what makes us run,” said Neil Caniga, head coach of the St. Lawrence Men’s and Women’s Tennis Teams. Caniga is doing his best to make sure his student-athletes are using available resources to handle the conjunction of tennis playoffs and final exams. He said giving extra days off from practice at the end of April is one way to allow more time for players to de-stress.
To that end, Timothy Corbitt, director of Health and Counseling Services at St. Lawrence, thinks there are a multitude of simple, yet effective methods for maintaining mental wellness. These include in-person counseling, connecting with friends, exercising and getting proper amounts of sleep. “Developing practices that support mental health is beyond important,” Corbitt said.
All in all, staying healthy mentally and physically as a college student can be surprisingly demanding. But with the right knowledge and resources, both students-athletes and non-student-athletes at St. Lawrence can become healthier individuals.