Learn 2 Listen

On this episode of Retention Chronicles, we’re joined by Jenny Sichel, paralympic silver medalist and three time silver medalist at the World Championships as well as the Operations Director at the National Council on Independent Living and Paralympic coach for USRowing. In addition to talking about Jenny’s career in the rowing world, we discuss her networking with the mindset of ‘what do i have to lose’, pursuing acting in film and talk shows, the lack of equity and equality of media coverage and medal payout for olympic and paralympic athletes, readjusting how we view success as an athlete, dealing with discrimination for disability, and becoming an advocate. Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Podcast

  On this episode of Learn 2 Listen we’re joined by Allison Allyn, MA LICSW, a licensed social worker in the state of Massachusetts and Co-Founder of Ehrhart Singer Therapy Group. We chat through Justin Suia’s podcast Losing Control with Dr. Colleen Hacker, what is the relationship between leadership, vulnerability, and confidence looks like, the connotation of vulnerability and weakness, identity and the self, and much more! Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Podcast

  On this episode of Learn 2 Listen we’re joined by Allison Allyn, MA LICSW, a licensed social worker in the state of Massachusetts and Co-Founder of Ehrhart Singer Therapy Group. Allison tells us all about what therapy is actually like, the difference between sport psychology and clinical therapy, the negative connotation between vulnerability and weakness, the difference between process and progress, and more! Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Podcast

  This episode of Learn 2 Listen is a tad bit different in that my lovely friend and Orr Fellow, Devon Ngo, is interviewing our host, Mariah Parsons, on why she started Learn 2 Listen. Devon attended the University of Notre Dame (Class of 2021), is currently in the Orr Fellowship, and is also an Operations Analyst and Photographer. He is currently building out his photography portfolio and asked Mariah if she would be featured. The mission of Devon’s project is to capture people in their element, doing what they are passionate about, and for Mariah, that’s podcasting! If you’re in the Indianapolis area and are looking to get involved with Devon and his photography, please check him out via his website ! 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

  Leeann Passaro is Chief Operating Officer at The Hidden Opponent, an advocacy group that raises awareness for Student-Athlete Mental Health to address the stigma in sports. Not only is Leeann passionate about her non-profit work but she is also a high school English teacher and soccer and lacrosse coach. Leeann vulnerably shares her story about her relationship with soccer, her coach and team, and her history of concussions. We bond and elaborate about the guild and uncertainty that surrounds injury in sport. We give our two cents about the fear and manifestation of symptoms that surround injury and why it creates a web of pressure and confusion. Leeanne discusses her reframing of a very difficult situation where she wasn’t asked to return to soccer her senior year where she was forced to transition out of sport a year earlier than she thought she would.  Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Podcast

Madeline Barlow, Ph.D., is an Athlete Mental Performance Coach currently working at Drexel University to help athletes become mind-wise and transition away from sport post-graduation. Madeline is also the founder of the MindWiseMentor, the creator of the Mind-Wise Method, and the author of the book The Highly Sensitive Athlete. She earned her degree at the Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania where she was a varsity swimmer of four years. Join us today as Madeline tells the Learn2Listeners community what it means to be mind-wise. She shares some of her favorite practices everyone can integrate into their daily schedule. We take a deep dive into the take-a-ways Madeline experienced from her fourteen-year swimming career, mainly navigating one’s body image while constantly competing in a bathing suit. Thank you so much to Madeline for taking the time to teach us all how to be more mind-wise and sharing her story on Learn 2 Listen. Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Podcast

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...

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...

Brianna Leverenz is a former swimmer for The University of Tennessee Knoxville where she graduated with a degree in kinesiology in 2019. While at school, Brianna was extremely involved in sports philanthropy where she spent 3 months in the Philippines teaching children how to swim. Brianna and Mariah met through their mutual interest in sports philanthropy as Brianna continues to serve and inspire those around her. She now works for Stanford as a clinical researcher to fulfill her amazing and demanding work. schedule. Join us as we chat about Brianna's journey during her four years as a student, athlete, and leader. She bravely and honestly shares her vulnerabilities and advice with us as well as some female empowerment! Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Podcast

  Katherine McManus graduated from Notre Dame in 2016. She was a member of the women's lacrosse team from 2012-2016. After graduating, she spent a year interning for Student Welfare and Development (ND Athletics), got her MA in Sport and Performance Psychology from the University of Denver, and a MA in Clinical Psychology from American University. Her research focuses on body image, eating, and exercise behaviors in athletic samples and childhood obesity community intervention and prevention strategies. Katherine believes in applied research that inspires action and change within systems and individuals. When working with clients, Katherine aims to help them feel and be their best in all areas of life. She believes in strengthening skills one already has, teaching new skills, and working within a clients’ lifestyle and needs. Join us as we chat about Katherine's personal and professional journey and how she focuses on positivity through adversity. Listen on Spotify Listen on Ap...

  I have always been someone that gets really attached to people. I have jumped from person to person, but truly also had great friendships and whatnot in the process. Clearly, I love attention so having had new people to constantly surround myself with is fun. On the other hand, though I have also learned very well how it feels to be constantly let down, over and over again. More recently over quarantine, I have also felt what it is like to have a delayed realization of a need to “heal” I guess. College has been fun but also very difficult. The one thing that really shook me at my core, however, was losing the trust of someone who was one of my best friends. At the beginning of one of my college years, I was raped by this person who, at the time, was a great friend of mine and who seemed to really care about me. I was devastated that someone I trusted could do that to another human, especially me (because you never think it will happen to you!). I really suffered later, but right ...

I really admire Mariah for creating this because, as her friend, I wanted nothing more than to support her, but every time I sat down to write something I couldn’t find words I was comfortable sharing (and the thought of being publicly vulnerable made me wanna armadillo as much as the next person). Reading what other people had to say put me at ease because I didn’t feel exposed or alone anymore— So I would say she’s off to a pretty great start:). I have struggled a lot with those times in life when “nothings wrong, but everything is wrong.” I would have so much anxiety and sadness about being stressed and not “feeling great” and so much paranoia that everyone thought I had my shit together and one slip up and my entire facade would come crashing down. We go to a school where there is this stigma that if you aren’t high strung and high achieving, you must not care all that much, or as much as other people at least. But at the same time, if you don’t go out, see people, are seen, then “...

  I was overjoyed when I committed to row at Notre Dame during my senior year of high school, but I didn’t know what was in store for me the next few months. Just weeks after I signed the National Letter of Intent in October of 2016, I started feeling sharp pains shooting down my legs and my back seized up every time I got in a boat. After various MRI scans, I was diagnosed with two bulging discs in my back and I wasn’t given any sort of timeline as to when they would heal. I missed the bulk of my senior season and started my freshman year at Notre Dame in the same place I had been a year ago. I was pessimistic about my future on the rowing team due to my back, but I wanted to give it everything I had for that year. I spent countless hours on the bike and extra time in the training room doing rehab, and it finally paid off when I was able to step in a boat again for the first time in February of 2018. I worked my way up the ladder that spring and made the 2V4+ boat and won the silv...

  My high school rowing club was known for our lightweight 4+ boat. Every lightweight rower and coxswain wanted to be in that boat. During my sophomore and junior year of high school, I watched our lightweight 4+ win Youth Nationals for two consecutive years. I desperately wanted to be the coxswain in that boat. By my senior year, I was chosen to be the coxswain in the lightweight 4+. Two of the rowers were twins who I had been best friends with and went to school since I was a toddler. I also went to elementary school and high school with the other two rowers. We were extremely close, and so winning nationals wasn’t something we wanted to do for ourselves but for each other. Outside of practicing six days a week, I studied my recorded coxswain calls, drafted several race plans, and obsessed over everything under my control as a coxswain. I was prepared for anything to happen. All the while, I started experiencing what I called “episodes.” I would hear or see something that would t...

Learn 2 Listen was founded by Mariah Parsons, a student-athlete and mental health advocate. Mariah has been inspired by the stories of others, learn more about her’s here: My own journey to open up has been a formidable challenge for me. While reflecting on the pivotal moments in my life, I have discerned four moments in my life that have challenged me in ways I’d never experienced before. But, I have learned to be grateful for these experiences, albeit painful. My responses to these challenges have shaped me into a better, stronger, more confident version of myself. In hopes of gaining your trust (and for my own cathartic release), I want to share some struggles I’ve previously elected to hide. I hope I can inspire others to do the same. My first life-pausing moment came when I almost lost someone extremely close to me. Previously, I never had to acknowledge the possibility of losing someone at a drop of a hat. It was extremely difficult to admit I was useless and I couldn’t be helpfu...

There seem to be endless possibilities that can overwhelm us if we let them. It is so easy to see things only from our point of view, we know it so well. But, I believe there is power in being able to understand someone else’s situation, experience, and opinion. To see where they are coming from, to empathize with them.  Over the past few months, while the world seemingly shut down overnight due to COVID-19 and countless racial injustices, I have taken the time we gained back from quarantine to educate myself, to reflect on my values, and to discern a few passions of mine. I have done so by participating in forums, classes, and internships that have developed my understanding of the world and of myself.  As I have started to educate myself on the many injustices that unfortunately seem to have become daily characteristics of life, I believe there is a lack of empathy prevalent in society. I want to work on improving human relations and understanding and thus, I began to brains...