Athletics with Guyland

Transcript

Let’s meet Guyland, a local student from right here in Bremerton. It can be difficult for student athletes to balance all the responsibilities of being in school and competing, but Guyland is finding success thanks to the welcoming and supportive environment of Olympic College. Alright, Guyland, I’m handing the baton over to you. Take it away.

– Thanks, Alex. Hey, everyone. As a track and field and cross country student athlete at Olympic College, I’m running towards my future instead of running from it. Throughout high school, a low-key struggled with keeping up with school, sports and work, but OC has helped me make a stressful situation a little easier to handle. My athletic counselor and coaches are always here to support and make sure that we stay on top of everything. School can be rough, but they’ve taught me that it’s okay to ask for help or take a break when I need it. For the longest time, I’ve been dealing with depression and self-doubt. I was trying to be the perfect student athlete, but that did nothing to me but destroy my grades and warped my athletic performance and left me feeling useless and broken. At OC, I have found a supportive community of people that I can trust and talk to about it. Because of my experiences, I want to become a school counselor. I never saw a lot of administrators of color, so I would like to be what I didn’t have. Knowing a little of what it’s like, it could help a lot of other Black, Indigenous, and people of color student athletes gain more confidence. Now it’s a new year and I’m choosing not to fall. This track has always been my home. It’s let me scraped up and made me never want to come back. But it’s also given me new experiences, new friends and support, new coaches and resources, and shown me that I can persevere through anything. My time here has not only allowed me to grow as a student athlete but as a person, and the experiences and friendships I’ve made are something I wouldn’t trade for the world. Thanks, Alex, I gotta run.

– Guyland, it is so good to know you are getting the holistic support you need both personally and academically. As part of the Northwest Athletic Conference, Olympic College competes against teams in Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia in 11 different women and men’s sports, thanks again.