ASU swimmer advocates for mental health awareness and support
Kinesiology major and ASU swimmer Rachael Holp.
Taking care of your mental health is as important as resting when you’re sick or putting a Band-Aid on a scrape on your arm.
The college experience presents everyone with various stresses, but student athletes often feel an extra weight on their mental health from their incredibly demanding schedule.
Rachael Holp, a kinesiology major and swimmer in her senior year, knows this as well as anyone, which is why she advocates for mental health awareness in college athletics through her involvement in Devils 4 Devils and IfYoureReadingThis, which she started at ASU.
After struggling with her own mental health due to school and athletic stress, Holp understands firsthand how important it is to have resources on campus that support students.
“To know simply that you are not alone and that there are other people who might have experienced similar hardships as you can be so incredibly helpful. In addition to that, making sure that our students and peers feel supported through whatever they might be going through can truly save a life,” Holp said. “In the realm of athletics, we are starting to see at an international level how athletes are embracing vulnerability and having the courage to speak up about their mental health and what is best for them.”
IfYoureReadingThis is a mental health organization based on the premise of writing open letters about mental health. It is a universitywide support network to help students struggling with anxiety and depression.
Holp said the group’s goal is to help students with mental illness feel comfortable talking to somebody by identifying the people who want to listen and by showing an outpouring of love and understanding.
Holp learned about another college’s chapter of the organization through a mutual friend on social media and foresaw how the movement could positively impact the ASU community.
“My hope is that IfYoureReadingThis will inspire and help students, staff and alumni share their stories, helping to end the stigma around mental health while offering support, resources and hope to those struggling in their community,” she said.
To anyone currently struggling with mental health, Holp said she hopes they know that things will get better.
“I know this because I have experienced it. I know this because with each letter launch we have, the response and feedback I receive confirms this idea,” she said. “People have explained how they were so scared to open up about their struggles, but when they did the outpouring of support was immense, and the care they received gave them the courage to continue to get better and to continue to ask for help when they need it and to continue to be their authentic selves because the world needs them here. They belong.”
As she wraps up her senior year, Holp has many goals. She wants to represent ASU one last time before she finishes her swimming career and complete her undergraduate degree as she prepares for medical school to one day work in pediatrics. Holp said she loves working with and helping kids, and she wants to carry this passion into her career.
She hopes that IfYouReadingThis will become a staple on campus for a mental health resource and wants to work with ASU Counseling Services to bring programming and IfYoureReadingThis to younger kids in elementary, middle and high schools across the Valley. Holp said this work is important at the college level, but it is impacting younger children now more than ever, too.
“I hope that through this work and dedication, I can help our community to embrace vulnerability and seek the help they might need. I want to instill in all of my peers as well as those younger than me that they matter, their uniqueness is needed in this world and if they are reading this, they are loved!”
Follow along at @ifyourereadingthisasu on Instagram.