We are all #SoConnected

By Tre Gabriel, Flawless Intern

The Southern Conference is a Division 1 collegiate athletic conference under the guidance of the National Collegiate Athletic Association ( NCAA ). Established in 1921 it is the fifth oldest major college athletic conference in the United States, but what may be more impressive is what they’ve been doing this week.

Sunday, September 29th kicked off their conference-wide Mental Health Awareness Week with every school participating in creative and meaningful ways. The goal of this initiative is to raise awareness about mental health, open up the conversation about this topic, and make sure students are aware of all of the resources available to them.

The introduction of mental health awareness and athletics is a new phenomenon. Traditionally, athletes are expected to be “tough” and show no “weakness.” Unfortunately, for a long time discriminatory views made athletes feel that opening up about mental health falls under the “weakness” category. Understanding this, it would be inspiring to see just one of these schools taking the time to invest in their student-athletes mindfulness and well-being. But for the Southern Conference to assemble all of their teams together and execute their Mental Health Week as one is a trend-setting initiative that is making a huge difference in collegiate athletics.

When I began college at Columbia University 5 years ago, I experienced a level of uncertainty that I never felt before. For starters, New York City is a lot different from South Florida. (What do you mean I can’t wear shorts in December? Wait, you travel under the ground? The closest beach isn’t walking distance?) Then adjusting to a college level academic curriculum brought its own challenges. My head was spinning before I ever set foot on the football field. Once I got there I had to accept the fact that I wasn’t automatically the best player on the team. It was division 1 football, everyone was a star. I eventually figured it all out, but I can only imagine how much I would have benefited from the type of programming, love, and support that I’m seeing from everyone in the Southern Conference so far this week. I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen this weekend during all of the games!

The initiative was created by the SoCon Student-Athlete Advisory Committee , and will continue to be a focus throughout the school year. Check out some of the highlights from each school below, and follow along on all social media platforms using the official hashtag #SoConnected because…as we need to remember – we are all…
SO CONNECTED!

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga