Being a professional athlete is most collegiate athletes' dream. 

"I wish I could just play basketball without school."

"I would have so much more free time if I didn't have to study."

And last but not least, my all time favourite quote from Cardale Jones: 

"Why should we have to go to class if we came here to play FOOTBALL, we ain't come here to play SCHOOL, classes are POINTLESS".

I'm not saying I agree with these quotes, but I'm also not saying I didn't think them at one point or time either. Being a collegiate athlete is a full-time job, and being a student at a prestigious university is also a full-time job if you want to succeed. So where did hobbies, friends, or relaxing fit into our schedules? Unsurprisingly, they didn't! 

One of the biggest changes from collegiate to professional sports (at least in the world of volleyball) was the amount of time I had to finally do other things that I enjoyed. The problem? I didn't know what I enjoyed. I had spent 24 years of my life dedicated to sport and school. Of course I had hobbies that I dabbled in, but they were such a minuscule part of my existence that I wasn't even sure how to pick them up again. 

But then I just... started. I picked up my paint brush again. I picked up my guitar. I picked up a ukulele for the first time in the Czech Republic. I picked up a book that I wanted to read, and when I finished that one I picked another. It was like I was learning who I was and what I was interested in all over again.

Which brings me to lesson number two: 

Find the things you like in life and hold onto them. 

Being abroad and being able to have the time to explore the interests that I have was so empowering. I have gotten a better sense of myself in so many different ways, and that has helped my mental health substantially. I am not afraid to say that I love playing video games and I bought a Nintendo Switch two years ago that I play frequently. I love Pokemon, I love Animal Crossing, I love Luigi's Mansion and I love that I am able to own that part of myself. 

I love to draw and paint and sketch. My art can be summed up through one quote from Gennaro Gattuso: "Sometimes maybe good, sometimes maybe shit." And you know what? I don't care (shameless lesson 1 plug). Because making art, whether it is shit or not, makes me happy and things that make me happy, I hold onto. 

So hold onto those things that make you happy. If you don't have anything that makes you happy, go and find them. They're out there waiting for you.