Athlete Talk & Preparing for Finals

Alyssa VanPelt, Staff Writer

Finals are drawing near and the pressure to do well can be overwhelming. The athletic department understands this extremely well as they have saved one of their three semesterly meetings dedicated to finals and mental health. Their meeting was held on November 21^st, 2024. 

The first presentation focused on the mental health aspect. To this, they gave a presentation on an app called Athlete Talk. Athlete Talk, according to the presentation, was founded in 2020 during the pandemic when the mental health crisis was increasing. Athlete Talk has a variety of features such as wellness exercises which are short and manageable for the busy schedules of athletes. Athlete Talk also works as a form of social media where athletes can have a community. Amanda Zuntag, a senior on the women’s basketball team and majoring in early childhood education, and Emma Schwarzbeck, a junior on the women’s basketball team and majoring in sports management & prelaw, are both leaders attending the event. These events and Athlete Talk are extremely helpful from their point of view. They provide a space to talk about harder topics like mental health. Additionally, it can be difficult to talk about the stress of sports with non-athletics students because it could be hard to feel understood. 

The second presentation focused on “how to be your best self during finals.” Their presentation discussed different types of stress and how to regulate stress. They recommend keeping the same study method students have been using all semester, especially if it has been working. It would be more stressful to change tactics this late into the semester. Additionally, they said to start studying now. It feels like there is still so much time until finals, but the sooner students begin studying, the better they will do. During the presentation, they gave tips for eating during finals week. When people are stressed, it can negatively affect their immune system. So, maintaining healthy eating habits can reduce the negative consequences of stress. They do not want students to sacrifice eating to study or do work. Some easy meals they recommend are yogurt with berries, bananas with peanut butter, almonds, and apple slices. Finally, they encourage students, the athletes present, to remain active during finals week. It is good to remain active because it helps with performance on exams, but for athletes, it will keep them in shape for their seasons. 

Zuntag and Schwarzbeckv both agree that it would be a hundred percent beneficial for athletics students to continue attending these events after it is no longer mandatory. It is mandatory for mentees, freshmen, and transfers, to attend. There are mentors, anyone who is a sophomore, junior, or senior. Leaders are mentors who assist in running the presentation. They explained that there were significantly fewer mentors and leaders when they were freshmen. However, it has grown a lot in the last few years. As of Fall 2024, there are over two hundred mentors and about twenty leaders, according to Zuntag and Schwarzbeck. When asked about the value of these events and how beneficial they are, Zuntag explains they are for as long as athletes take them seriously. According to Zuntag, if athletes take these events seriously if they are taken as a joke, then it will become a waste of an hour. She said to make it meaningful by taking the lessons learned and applying them outside of the meetings.