I believe no two people have the same experience with mental health, but that’s what makes everyone’s beliefs and goals so unique. Mental health can be affected by a plethora of things. The people around you, your job, sports, school, and all the little things in between. Mental health can open doors for you to express yourself or even connect with someone deeper. You and your experiences with mental health shapes how you view the world and those around you. Personally, something that has affected my mental health throughout my life is softball. Sports are designed to be entertaining and a show of athleticism even though to athletes it may feel like a chore or feeling extreme pressure. As a pitcher, in the middle of the field, I have always dealt with pressure, and for the most part I could compose myself very well. When I was walking batters or my team wasn’t backing me up, it was important to stand tall and not let the crowd or the opposing team see me get down. Holding in a breakdown until I got home each night after what felt like loss after loss was draining on a young teenager. The pressure to perform and do well can be extremely overwhelming with all eyes on you. Or when you hear sneaky comments from a parent in the stands that you replay in your head before you warm up the next day. Every athlete has experienced a bad day and maybe even considered quitting but what keeps us going? Everything in my daily life can relate back to softball. When I’m trying to get through a quiz, I say “push through and reevaluate” like I would tell myself on the dirt. I’ve been able to practice mental toughness and push until I realize I finally got through it. I think what keeps athletes going is the glory and success, the good days, the celebration you share with a team. If you play a team sport, you understand that there will always be individuality, on all of my teams, mental health has always been mentioned. Between me and another teammate or my coach. Sharing experiences of struggles you have or had is important to grow a bond and have a deeper understanding of you sitting next to you. Unfortunately there is stigma surrounding mental health but on the flipside the media is doing much better jobs at showing it in a positive light. While it’s not always portrayed right, having conversations about mental health is a good start. Opening up the conversation leaves room for opportunity and for someone to speak up and share their experiences which will leave you with a new perspective. Now and later in life I strive to create a welcoming environment for whoever I come in contact with. Having different friends with different struggles, living in different places, going to a school with thousands of new faces, will all help me in being a better person. A better advocate. My experience with mental health has shaped my work ethic. Pushing through when I thought I couldn’t any longer. It has shaped new goals for my life like being able to empathize with those I don’t know very well. Mental health has most importantly helped me view the world in a new way. Do not judge those because you don’t know what they are going through. I strive to spread this message to everyone I come across in this life.