For many student athletes, they can deal with several issues while in college. Trying to excel in the classroom while simultaneously working to be the best on the fields or courts, can have its affects in multiple aspects including their physicality, mentality and social life. And while it can be a lot to deal with for male student athletes, it can be even more female student athletes.

In order to help them deal with the issues, Southwest Mississippi Community College recently hosted a Women's Wellness Seminar attended by Southwest female student athletes and female coaches, which included talks from professionals on a number of topics pertaining to mental health and physical health.

One of those professionals was Cassie Zayed, a licensed clinical social worker from the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Zayed, a former student athlete herself at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, said that she understands everything a student athlete goes through.

Zayed, who has a decades-worth of experience practicing counseling in numerous settings admits that this was her first time talking to a group of female student athletes. Heading into the talk, she did plenty of studying to determine how to address it.

"Leading up to it I already did a lot of research just on what is out there and what is being done at other universities," she said. "The NCAA puts out a really good report once a year on the stress being reported, how they deal with it and what is being reported. So, through that, that gives us a lot of information on what the approach needs to be."

One of the female student athletes who took plenty of knowledge away from Zayed's talk was sophomore softball player Malley Chase Faulkner.

"I know that everybody sees things in a different perspective, but for me, I have a personal experience losing someone, and (it's comforting) having someone take time out of their day to come and talk about someone's mental health and making sure that they know that it is a priority," she said. "As a female athlete, I know that sometimes we forget that is a really important thing in our everyday lives."

Another professional who spoke was McComb OBGYN Nurse Practitioner Kappi Rushing. Like Zayed, Rushing said that this was her first time talking to a group of young ladies in this particular age group adding that she normally talks to adolescents about puberty and body changes in a 1-on-1 setting. She said that she was very happy to talk to the female student athletes.

"So many of these young girls, they get their medical advice from TikTok," she said. "It let me give them true medical advice in a non-threatening, informal environment and it let them be able to ask questions and to be in a comfortable setting amongst their peers and not just their peers but their athletic peers which added a twist to it."

Rushing added that she originally planned on talking about a certain topic but the discussion migrated over into further talk about something different.

"I had not planned on talking a lot about birth control with them," she said. "My initial plan was supposed to be about the emotional and physical dangers of sex. But then, they just had questions about birth control and it went from there."

In addition to the discussions, the seminar also consisted of a question and answer session in which the student athletes were able to submit questions via an index card if they wished to remain anonymous.

One female student athlete who learned more of the correlation between mental and physical health that evening is sophomore soccer player Gabby Venable. 

"It was eye-opening to see just how the physical and mental aspects play into your health overall as a person because if your mentality isn't stable enough, your physical state will also go down with that," she said. "They really showed us how they connect to each other and how they are co-dependent on each other. They helped us realize that we all have our little things but we are all going through pretty much the same thing. Every woman goes through a struggle whether it is how they play, perform or how they do in school. The way they explained it to us, I now believe I can give a full speech (on the topics).

Venable added that it helped her personally as she is dealing with several factors such as school, athletics and being recruited for the next level.

Fellow Southwest Women's Soccer teammate and sophomore Caroline Barcelona also took plenty of information away as well, including self-identity.

"It was definitely a great reminder that your sport does not define you," she said. "I am not Caroline Barcelona the soccer player, I am Caroline Barcelona the human first. It was a great reminder that you are in control."

Southwest Softball Assistant Coach Callie Venable, a former student athlete herself who was also present for the event, believes that the seminar was very beneficial for the female student athletes and checked many boxes as far as providing help and guidance on dealing with certain issues.

"I think that all of the speakers did a really good job of providing adequate information for the girls and answering some difficult questions that they don't always feel comfortable asking family members or even coaches who see them on a daily basis," she said.

Another coach and former student athlete who attended was Women's Basketball Assistant Coach Alissa Adams. She echoed the same thought as Coach Venable.

"I just thought that this was a good event that kind of highlighted topics that have stigmas with them, just breaking down those barriers and letting our student athletes know that we have resources here at Southwest and resources that are in our community to help with their mental and physical health, to continue to grow while they are here and help them thrive," she said.

Like Coach Venable and Coach Adams, Southwest Women's Soccer Head Coach Nicole Cooper also played collegiately on the junior college level and understands the challenges the female student athlete faces regularly. She adds that the seminar was a huge help for everyone in attendance, especially her players.

"For us and our program specifically, it was such good timing because I think that we have been struggling with our performance," she said. "We have the talent but I think that a lot of it had to do with our mindset. That was one of the subjects talked about when they talked about the mental health side of things, I think it was spot-on and just what our girls needed to hear."

When asked about the event, Southwest Women's Basketball sophomore Ja'Kya Brown had two key words to describe the seminar, calling it "educational and inspirational."

Going off of recommendations for discussions concerning wellness for female student athletes, Southwest Athletic Director Ken Jackson put the event together. For him, he understands the issues female student athletes face not only from his current position but also personally as well.

"Having two daughters who were female student athletes, even though I coached males my entire coaching career, I saw that there is a difference in the way that you handle females," he said. "So I thought it was a good idea that our female student athletes be given an avenue to be given some help if they are dealing with physical or mental issues."

In addition to Mrs. Rushing and Mrs. Zayed, other professionals were also in attendance. Dr. Valerie Turner, D.D.S. and Megan Ivy Jones, Southwest Mississippi Community College Director of Academic Counseling and Dual Enrollment Coordinator were both recognized and both also provided additional supportive resources for the student athletes.