Reflections on Student-Athlete Mental Health

This month I wanted to take a moment to reflect on my own experience as a student-athlete and share a few lessons I learned along the way. With Student-Athlete Awareness Week running from October 4th–11th, the timing feels right—though I hope the takeaways hold value well beyond this week.

One of the biggest challenges student-athletes face is time management. Whether you’re competing in high school or chasing All-American honors, learning to manage your time is non-negotiable. Days often start before sunrise with training, followed by classes, another round of practice, film sessions, and late-night studying. Add in travel, weekend practices, and games, and it’s easy to feel buried. Your free time disappears almost overnight, leaving you wondering how you’ll keep up.

What helped me most was prioritization and time-blocking. Former Navy SEAL Jocko Willink calls his approach “Prioritize and Execute,” and I found it invaluable. Write down your tasks, take a breath, and rank them by priority. Maybe it’s a group project meeting competing against office hours with your professor—rank them as objectively as you can. Then channel your full attention into the top priority. Once it’s done, move to the next. It sounds obvious, but when I started practicing it, I realized how much calmer and more productive I became. I wasn’t spinning in circles thinking about what was next—I was doing my best work, one step at a time. And when new priorities popped up? I simply reassessed, refocused, and pressed forward.

The next challenge every athlete knows too well is the physical toll. Training multiple times a day—sometimes 2 to 6 hours—pushes your body to its limits. That’s why I came to see active recovery as non-negotiable. Protecting the things that restore you is critical to preventing burnout and recharging. For me, that meant books—sinking into a story on the couch, wrapped in a blanket, gave me the reset I needed. For others, it might be crafts, long walks, or talking with a close friend. Whatever your version is, treat it as a priority, not a luxury.

Finally, let’s talk about something too often overlooked: support networks. No athlete can (or should) carry the load alone. Leaning on others—whether it’s asking a teacher for help, reaching out to a friend for encouragement, or connecting with family for perspective—makes the journey sustainable. Research consistently shows the positive impact of support networks on athlete well-being, so there’s little reason to go in alone. And if you’re looking for additional support, know that we at Elite Performance Psychology are here for you too.