Drury University athlete Brooklyn Acuff, is a member of the school’s tennis team in Springfield, Missouri. With more than ten years of experience in tennis, she has learned how to balance the demands of competition, academics, and everyday life.
Acuff sat down with The Scoop to share valuable insight about how students, and athletes alike, can better manage their mental health while pursuing their goals.
All Photos By Rylie Bales
Step 1: Finding time in your day to ground yourself
“No matter what it looks like, to kind of ground yourself. I think especially as an athlete. It can get pretty hectic day-to-day and really busy and I think finding a time where you can sit down and just any kind of activity, whether it’s doom scrolling on your phone or if it’s you know, coloring books or reading any kind of activity that you can have to yourself as a form of self-care throughout your day”
Step 2: Surrounding yourself with like-minded people
“I think it’s easy, um, in college and especially as athletes to get wrapped up in your day-to-day again. So I think making sure you’re setting aside time to make those social bonds and make those friends and spend time with friends because it’s really easy when you’re so busy to kind of isolate yourself or you know, separate yourself or just lay in your bed instead of, you know, hanging out with friends.”
Step 3: Seek Guidance
I think everyone but especially busy college students should seek guidance and counseling. It’s something that for me personally has been super beneficial in my life. I’ve seen this sports psychologist, I’ve seen regular therapists at different times in my life and for different reasons, and I think every single time it has been well worth it.
Step 4: Prioritize Sleep
“This is something I am extremely guilty of. I’m pretty bad at it, but I think if I could spread on some advice it would be that there are so many studies out there that prove that sleep is so Important for you, especially when you’re a college student you’re learning so much, you’re busy every single day and sleeping is really that time of day when your body is processing everything you’ve learned and resting, and when you don’t get enough sleep.”
Step 5: Saying “No” when necessary
” I think it’s really easy for busy and active students to want to say yes to everything especially when social like opportunities come about it’s really easy also to say yes to a social situation instead of prioritizing you know, time for yourself time for yourself and. Yeah, it’s busy and active college students. It’s super easy to, you know, say yes to hanging out with friends instead of studying like you should be or overcommitting yourself, you know, saying. Yes, and signing up for three or more clubs at the start of the year and then finding you don’t have time for that so. It’s OK to say no.”
