Mental Health is emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It is important to take care of your mental health and learn how to balance it all out. In today’s society, we see the struggle of mental health in young student-athletes. Whether playing sports for fun or playing to be a professional athlete your mind is always affected.
At times the constant need to be perfect and the pressure from others and ourselves can feel unbearable. We have personal expectations, and the pressure to perform at such a high level. In most student-athletes minds they may feel that anything less is not acceptable. For some, depression, anxiety, or other pressures become hard, and tragically another athlete dies by suicide. April 26,2022 20-year-old Lauren Bernett committed suicide. She was a sophomore in college on the James Madison University softball team. Lauren was their catcher and clean-up hitter. However, she is not the only one who has been struggling. Sarah Schulze, Katie Meyer, Jayden Hill, and Robert Martin were all student-athletes who had committed suicide. You might be asking yourself “why”, but there is no simple explanation. Everyone is different in their experiences. Outcomes can never be predicted. So, please bring awareness to these types of topics. You are not alone. You can always come forth and talk about whatever you feel to anyone.
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Drivers in today's world are more distracted than ever. Sending a text message, talking on a cell phone, using a navigation system, and eating while driving is all examples of distracted driving. Any of these distractions can endanger you, your passengers, and others on the road. Over hundreds of thousands of people are injured, or killed because of distracted driving.
The tragic story of Casey Feldman is an eye-opener on why this topic needs such awareness. Casey was walking to her summer job in Ocean City N.J. On this walk, she was hit and killed by a distracted driver. She was only 21 years old. In the wake of her death, her father has made it a goal to prevent another parent’s worst nightmare. He had founded End Distracted Driving, an organization that’s partnering with Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. The organization's research on teens’ distracted driving aimed at creating a youth-driven program to cut down on it. It consisted of surveys and focused on teens who were they’ll ask about their motivations for distracted driving. To prevent distracted driving on your own you should not multitask while driving. Whether it’s adjusting your mirrors, selecting music, eating, making a phone call, or reading a text or email, do it before or after your trip, not during. You can also use apps to reduce distractions while driving. As a passenger, you can always speak up if your driver is doing something wrong. Always Rember safety first, and always speak up if something is wrong. There are many women throughout history that impact our lives for the better. However, a woman who I look up to the most would be Gertrude Elion. Elion was a biochemist and pharmacologist. She developed drugs to treat leukemia and to prevent kidney transplant rejection. Due to her achievements, she won the Nobel prize. However, it wasn’t an easy journey for her to accomplish these goals. She persevered to be what she wanted to be.
For starters, Gertrude’s father was not financially stable. He invested heavily into stocks, and because of the stock crash in 1929, he had gone into bankruptcy. However, Elion’s grades got her into a free college, Hunter University. She attended college at 15 years old and graduated at 19 years old. She later on attended graduate school where she could get her master's. Since people rejected women chemists she had part-time jobs as a lab assistant and went back to school at New York University. She never had a doctor's degree. However, she was later awarded an honorary Ph.D. from the Polytechnic University of New York. Later on, she had an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Harvard University. She found her own way to achieve her accomplishments. Like her, I want to make a significant contribution that will help improve the health of people around the world. Elion once stated, “ The Nobel Prize is fine, but the drugs I’ve developed are a reward in themselves.” This inspires me because it shows Elion truly wanted to help people, when I’m older I want to help people the same way she did. I also wish to make an impact on the medical field and society. I know I will succeed because Elion has shown me, even if it’s tough I can push through it, and strive to succeed. Black History Month is an opportunity to understand the lives of strong Black individuals. There are many Black lives who impacted this world for the better. An individual who is different in my eyes is Maya Angelou. Maya Angelou was born in Marguriete Johnson in St.Louis, Missouri, on April 4, 1928. Angelou was a preeminent voice for young women. Angelou inspired many women to overcome prejudice, discrimination, and abuse. After being raped by her mother’s boyfriend she became mute for five years. However, with the help of her grandmother, who introduced her to literature, she became a talented artist. This helped her become a civil rights activist and a gifted poet.
Angelou blended her influential voice in her poems. Her poems described her powerful identity as a black woman. In her poems, she expressed women during racial discrimination, segregation, and male dominance. Women who had read her poems were impacted by her words and were determined to overcome their struggles within their daily lives. Besides her poems, Angelou was a civil rights activist who devoted her time establishing progress and equal opportunities within the lives of POC. After hearing Martin Luther King Jr. speak she decided to help the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. She told MLK “ I join with millions of black people the world over in saying ‘You are our leader.’” Maya, later on, helped Martin Luther King organize the Poor People’s March when the civil rights leader decided to help the striking sanitation workers in Memphis. Maya Angelou was a strong woman who impacted the world. She still impacts people today. For example, Maya has taught me what it means to have perseverance. She has taught me to overcome my fears, and obstacles to become the best person I can be. Without her contributions to society, the world would be a very different place. I am very grateful that she was able to speak up for the many voices who couldn’t speak for themselves. |
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