Hypothermia in Hot Temps?

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It was an unseasonably sweltering fall day at Michigan State. As I entered the auditorium that housed a room full of college students, I looked around to find a seat. Six hundred students were assigned to this particular biology course for that fall semester of 2003. We were in an overpacked room, sitting elbow to elbow. Students were using their sleeves to wipe the dripping sweat off their foreheads and drinking water like they had been sitting for hours on a scalding beach. Let’s put it this way – it was evident that people were uncomfortably hot, sweaty, and parched. I looked around and noticedRead More →

In Hopes to Save the Next Madison Holleran

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I was shaken to the core as I read the horrific, yet all too familiar, story on Madison Holleran which has resurfaced all over social media. As a former college women’s soccer athlete at Michigan State University, I knew Madison’s pain all too well. The recent overwhelming number of posts, tweets, and links directing to the story legitimize the urgency I feel to raise awareness about mental health. ESPN published an article, Split Image, on a 19-year-old beautiful, Ivy League track star, who died after jumping from a parking structure to commit suicide. I can personally attest to the similar feelings of anxiety and depression in a quest forRead More →

Learned Behaviors that led to Extreme Obsessions

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It was a beautiful Monday afternoon in East Lansing, MI. I was a month away from completing my freshman year of college. As I was headed back to my dorm after my final class of the day, I smiled thinking how great  it was I became an expert on navigating my way through the huge campus of Michigan State. After trekking down the path of the Red Cedar river, I thought I would stop, say hello, and visit with my coaches as I was coming up to Jenison Field House. I took in a breath of fresh spring air, and appreciated it was our oneRead More →

Break the Stigma: #breakthestigma

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It was a 100 degree August afternoon at Old College Field in East Lansing, MI. We had just completed our second training session of the day. As we typically would after practice, we hung around to decompress, stretch our bodies, and finish socializing. As my teammates and I started heading back to the locker room, I thought I heard my name being called. I looked around. “Konheim,” I heard my coach yell again to get my attention, “Come here for a second.” I sensed something unusual as I approached a small huddle including all three coaches. “We are very concerned about you right now. We don’t know ifRead More →

Freshman Fifteen

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“Four energy drinks, a bag of Doritos, Easy Mac and a whole pizza at 2 a.m. Welcome to the diet of a college freshman. Foods like these make up the recipe for the “freshman 15,” the amount of weight college students are expected to gain their freshman year,” says Abby Lutz, in a recent article published by The Ball State Daily, Students, professor weigh in on legitimacy of ‘freshman fifteen’. I anxiously entered and walked into Case Hall North on August 23, 2002. I had already been living on campus for a week and a half, as we were required to report for preseason on August 11. I was nervousRead More →

Rock Bottom: January 24, 2004

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Beep. Beep. Beep. My alarm went off at 7:08am on January 24, 2004.  It was a cold, wintry, Saturday morning in East Lansing, Michigan. With a sigh of relief, I knew the sound of alarm meant it was time to head back home for the remainder of the weekend. The quicker I put on my running clothes, hurried down a flight of steps to the fitness center in my apartment complex, and ran six miles, the sooner I’d load up my car and depart East Lansing; a place I became quite uneasy with over the past several months. Our Michigan State women’s soccer banquet was scheduledRead More →