Learn 2 Listen

  On this Episode of Learn 2 Listen, we’re joined by Monroe Olsen, former D1 Volleyball player at Notre Dame. Monroe shares about her opinions on spirituality and religion and how they influence her perspective. Mariah and Monroe discuss their different narratives as it pertains to being injured and stepping away from sport, wading through the waters of being sent home during the COVID pandemic, and transitioning out of our careers in athletics to intentionally slow down. Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Podcast

  On this episode of Learn 2 Listen, we’re joined by Beverly Yanez. She is an American soccer coach and former professional player who is currently the assistant coach of Gotham FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She’s also a loving wife and mother of a little 1 and a half year old. She shares about what it was like to step away from being a player into a coach and how that reshaped her identity. Bev and Mariah also chat about what it's like to push down and hide anxiety when you're in athletics which flows into a conversation around coaching and mental health. Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Podcast Listen to Bev and Mariah's previous conversation on AFH Presents: Conversations on Sports and Mental Health.

  Today we are joined by Sophie Wang and Lexi Andrie, two Orr Fellows and founders and CEO and COO of the non-profit LUMA Galleries. We talk about their personal journeys and what they’ve learned through founding a non-profit that illuminates different narratives. In this episode you’ll hear about how and when we started to become aware of our own individual needs, shame around injury, painful experiences bringing out growth, amplifying the voices of others, the importance of human connection, how to avoid negative self-talk, and so much more. Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Podcast Get your tickets to LUMA Volume I: https://www.lumagalleries.org/event-details/luma-vol-i

  On this episode of Learn 2 Listen, we’re joined by Cory Camp, a phenomenal human being and expert in helping athletes find their flow state. He’s a swimmer, coach, author, podcaster, and founder of Forever Athlete. He takes personal development and trains others on how to be successful in it. In this episode we talk about the struggle to label yourself with an intro and on social media, content creation, making lifestyle and personal development easy and sustainable, the Psychophysiological window of tolerance of stress, flow state psychology, intermediately challenging yourself, imposter syndrome and so much. Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Podcast

  We’re joined by LaVonne Idlette, Olympic track star, lawyer and investment coach, and contestant on The Amazing Race. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, she competed in the Women's 100 meters hurdles as well as attending Hampton University to compete in the heptathlon. She also competed on The Amazing Race in 2020 for season 32. LaVonne now spends her time helping high achievers, such as professional athletes, lawyers, and doctors, invest in commercial real estate to educate on financial fitness and create passive income. There’s so many great take-a-ways but we’ve taken to highlighting a few: The mental shift necessary to go from being good at many things to becoming great at one Why it’s important to surround yourself with other high achieving people Unlearning stereotypes (for example: that athletes aren’t intelligent) How to stay aware from those who try to keep you in the dark by keeping you uneducated The buckets you should keep you money in and why you should diversify your fin...

  On this episode we’re joined by YouTuber and content creator Brooke Sabey. In this episode you’ll hear how Brooke and Mariah relate over their college experience being disrupted and being sucked back into hometown life during the COVID-19 pandemic. Have you ever felt like you regressed into the person you used to be? Brooke tells the story of how she convinced her parents to let her have social media and a Youtube channel at 12 and how her main friend group she met through the Internet when she wasn’t accepted by middle schoolers. Brooke and Mariah relate over seeing their role models succeed and relate to being bullied and made fun of but to then to pay it back and hopefully be that person for someone else. Are you your own boss? Have you learned your boundaries? Or, do you want to know the time sink and the behind-the-scenes that goes into content creation? Listen to hear it all & be sure to subscribe. Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Podcast

  This week, we are joined by Alea Rashid, current Orr Fellow and graduate of Butler University. one of my closest friends here in Indy and there’s so much we go into. Have you ever thought through how your past experiences impact the person you've become? In this episode you'll learn about how Alea’s life was impacted by having all brothers growing up and how joining a sorority taught her a different perspective. Mariah shares her mirrored version of that where rowing taught her to embrace her athleticism and confront her fear of being ‘too masculine’. You’ll also learn about the international trips Alea and Mariah have been fortunate enough to go on and what they both learned and took home with them. Do you know what entomology is? What about barracudas? Do you know why this podcast was founded? All the answers lie inside… Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Podcast

  On this episode of Learn 2 Listen, we are joined by Alex Oleson, a fellow Orr Fellow, friend, father, and podcaster. Alex speaks to how he shifted what he sees as successful as he approaches fatherhood. We talk a lot about having some areas of our identity that lend themselves to privilege and some areas of our identity that don’t lend themselves to privilege. Hearing Alex walk through growing up as an adopted child and when he started seeing and understanding how he developed and fit into society in many different ways is bound to leave a lasting impact. There are many awesome insights shared in this episode as to what identity seeking is like and how it can be complicated through different lenses. Growing up is weird and hard at points, we strive to blend in while also differentiate ourselves from others and discover our passions. If you’ve ever wondered what it looks like to launch a podcast, Alex and Mariah do just that. Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Podcast

  On this episode of Learn 2 Listen, we are joined by Pricilla Wiggins, a current Masters student earning her degree in Counseling Psychology at Temple University. She and Mariah talk all about her journey playing soccer while simultaneously exploring the process of loss and identity after the passing of her father when she was 21. We kick off the conversation around the transition out of sport (and what we miss and don’t miss) with the changes in life. Then we talk about the relationship athletes have with their bodies once they stop sport. Mariah talks about needing to reframe the way she looks at working out and not basing it off of guilt but rather for fun. They relate over needing to catch ourselves when we are working out and start to get frustrated when outcomes are not seen or we’re not able to do the same things we used to be able to do. Pricilla talks about the phenomena of countertransference and explains the delicate relationship between a counselor and patient and not ...

As I sat down to reflect on my experiences with mental health, I realize that what I thought were pivotal experiences in my life were more so pivotal reflective points. Instances in my life that within themselves, were so impactful, but really was the opening of continued self-discovery, pain, and change years after. When pivotal moments in life happen, it feels like the biggest thing in the world while you’re in the middle of it, but for me, the most challenging and gratifying parts come with time afterward.  Where I now sit at 27 years old, 5 years post-college graduation, I look back on the last 6 years with a lot of sadness and exhaustion. Yet, if you ask me how I’m feeling right now or on most given days, I will tell you that I’m tired but that I’m doing pretty well! There is room for both.  As far back as I have memories, I have been involved with athletics and am very physically active. As a kid, I loved playing outside and getting dirty, and I like to think I still car...

Ever since I was in junior high, I’ve been bullied. It wasn’t that bad until I got to college in Valparaiso, Indiana. That’s when it started to become hell. By the start of my third year in September 2010, the bullying turned into cyberbullying. I would get calls from restricted numbers telling me just how worthless I was. I also was getting sexual references scrawled on my whiteboard. The more I tried to get help, the more I was ignored. This led me to get severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and contemplating suicide as a result. I was also taking way more credits than I could handle as well. This led to my grades suffering and being suspended for all of 2011. The reason I didn’t end it all is that I found an angel in disguise who became my best friend. When I finally graduated in December 2014, I made sure to send her an invitation. What I wasn’t expecting was a card telling me how proud she was for not giving up. To anyone who is being bullied, you aren’t alone. I’m here for you. ...

Doctor Nancy Michael is currently a Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies for the Neuroscience and Behavior Major at the University of Notre Dame. She has dedicated her professional life to the scientific community, having studied pharmacogenetics, molecular biology, and neuropsychology, all while publishing multiple research papers. Join us as we discuss human tendencies and connections surrounding life transitions and the COVID-19 pandemic from a neurological point of view. We begin by discussing the transition from collegiate life into post-graduation life, which many students struggle through, and what advice Dr. Michael provides her students with. Then, we dive into the pandemic and its neurological impacts on students and communities. If you’re curious how we try to reestablish socialization as an everyday necessity and how we must unlearn the anxiety and guilt that accompanied the pandemic, listen now! Thank you to Doctor Nancy Michael for her insight, time, and contin...

In my 24 years, I have witnessed firsthand how mental health struggles can debilitate one’s life. For me, most of my story illustrates how mental health and addiction have the ability to completely crush someone, while simultaneously reverberating its devastating effects to those around that person. The story does not have an ending because the battle with mental health struggles is an ongoing journey that some people must navigate day by day. Rather, the story sheds light on the ways in which mental health education plays a pivotal role in the type of love and support one can provide to those suffering. My brother and I are one year apart, so growing up, we were very close. We were given the same opportunities and tools to succeed. We went to the same middle school and both graduated with high honors; we were fortunate enough to attend prestigious high schools and graduate at the top of our classes. Once I left for college, I was beginning to see a change in my brother. In his senior ...

Regret is a funny thing. Ironically, decisions about long-term health are not always easy. In high school, my athletic journey took a striking turn. An athletic trainer once turned to me and said, “What will you regret more? Having played, or not having played?” For me, quitting my sport was never an option. I subsequently learned the difference between manageable pain and potentially dangerous pain. I have spent the last 8 years perpetually reestablishing myself as a soccer player with a body that’s limited by injury. I tore my right knee’s anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) for the first time when I was 15. During the first spring practice of the season, I jumped up to win an airball, and as I landed my knee snapped. The next thing I knew, I was being carried by two of the team’s Soccer Dads’ to the car where my father was waiting to drive me to the Emergency Room. Later, I learned that this meant I would be out of commission the summer before my junior year of high school and for most...

Hello everyone! I am so excited to be able to share my story with all of you! I just read a few incredible stories that some of you were brave enough to share, and my story is nothing like any of yours! However, I still want to write about it, for my sake as well as everyone else's who struggle in silence every day, too ashamed to openly talk about how we feel. I think I started becoming depressed my senior year of high school, but it was a vague feeling, and I did not really think much about it. I made it through freshman year of college without any issues, and after thinking that freshman year was WAY EASIER than I had anticipated, three more years seemed like it would be a piece of cake! I was SO WRONG!!! It was only a few days after I wrapped up classes that I started feeling extremely suicidal. I was on a trip with a few other members of my family and a close friend of ours to visit her daughter in another state when all of these really dark thoughts crept into my brain. I had...

I'd like to express my heart when it comes to vulnerability... A topic that few people address and many run from or do their best to hide behind. Whether it's personal experiences, or childhood traumatic experiences, it's difficult to be vulnerable. One must take that look into a mirror that reflects their life. And it's a stare that reflects back that can be unkind to most. In my past, I've had to overcome abuse, parental divorce, abandonment, low self-esteem, and anger. It took years of heartache and pain to overcome those internal thoughts; "it must be my fault". So my fight, my battle, my struggle has cost me valuable years of my life. It landed me in prison and had me in a place in my life where my heart was full of apathy. I struggled with depression for years and it took a praying mother and therapeutic counseling from someone who believed that my worst wasn't a reflection of my best for me to get better. And I haven't looked back since... M...

This is a story of a family member of mine. It's a roller coaster ride and journey. He grew up with both parents, mom was a stay-at-home mom and dad was the provider for the family, yes his dad was strict and mom was lenient. They weren't rich but they didn't need anything, but that all changed when his father was deported back to Belize. He was 11 years old and hurt. So he kept playing football and going to school as his dad wished. Times got really hard and his mom later met someone new and had two more children, 5 boys altogether. But his mom was also being beaten up by the new guy. Years down the line his mom got up enough courage to move on from the abuse, but my family member never let it go. It really hurt and angered him to see his mom being treated this way. His dad never did these things to his mom. My family member ended up graduating high school with a scholarship to play football, he ended up having two beautiful daughters but made a mistake later on down the l...

Growing up in a stereotypical suburb with the most amazing family, I was very protected. I never felt any type of intense emotions of sadness or hopelessness, and I thought that was just how life was supposed to be: involving no emotion besides happiness. I would always see quotes saying how it’s okay to not be okay or all emotions are valid, and although they made logical sense, I couldn’t relate because I never saw a reason in life to be sad for no reason. I would hear about depression and anxiety and feel bad for those people, but I really could not truly understand what made people feel this way if there was no direct cause. My “perfect” life really bounded me to see only one way of living which I thought was the norm. I was a competitive swimmer, I excelled in school, I had great friends and family, so I didn’t really think I was permitted to feel sad or depressed since I had this incredible life. Fall of 2017, I began my freshman year at The University of Notre Dame. This has bee...

Monica Mesecar is currently a Notre Dame senior in the class of 2021 from Indiana who will graduate with her bachelor's in Neuroscience and Behavior with a minor in compassionate care in medicine. She lives in Ryan Hall, where she serves as a senior fellow. While at Notre Dame, Monica has been on the yearbook committee, served on the neuroscience senior leadership committee, and as the social media liaison. She is also a founder and member of ND's Access-able club, designed to educate, advocate, and build a community for students with disabilities. Monica is dedicated to the healthcare field and projects working in research before attending medical school. Join us as Monica discusses what drew her to neuroscience, the pressures of collegiate life, the intricacies of the COVID-19 pandemic as a student, and her experience as a student with disabilities. Monica shares and educates us all about her story with grace, honesty, and maturity at unmatched levels. Listen on Spotify Liste...

Hello, let me start off by introducing myself so you can get to know me before you read about my story. My name is Sydnee, I’m originally from Vancouver, BC, but have moved to Edmonton to better my mental health and have a better living environment overall. You may be questioning this… Edmonton, AB, the place where it's flat and is always cold. Yes, I have found a better support group/ family support here and the living expenses have provided me with a better environment and leave me with more savings in my pocket at the end of the day. Vancouver is beautiful and I recommend anyone I meet to go there, but the downfall is how expensive it can and especially for a single individual in their 20’s… I created ‘the sociable’ as my way of helping others heal their mental health or even although to feel like they aren’t alone because we’ve all experienced mental health in our own way and it's very important to continue bringing more awareness to this. I want to share my story, let alon...