First off, I think I need to introduce myself. My name is Mariah Evans and I am a senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I came to Chapel Hill for the first time when I was a sophomore in high school. On that day, I fell in love with this university and committed to play volleyball for the Tar Heels. My dream of being a Division 1 athlete came true, but I never thought in a million years that my career would be ended so abruptly.
Over the last few months, I wrote my story about my collegiate career and how it unexpectedly ended due to multiple concussions. My concussions resulted in epilepsy, which forced my hand to medically retire. My full piece about my journey was published on Monday at https://www.uncutchapelhill.com/post/what-would-you-risk (which I would be very grateful if you went to check it out). Writing about my journey was very hard for me, because I have never been able to be vulnerable with my feelings. I have always kept things in and struggled internally to find the right answers.
Since my story has been put out, I have been overwhelmed by the love and support that I have received. There have been multiple former athletes that have reached out to me telling me their story. This opportunity has helped me realize what I want my blog to be about. I am writing this blog for a class called "Branding of Me". When my professor first asked us to write a blog, I got very stressed. I did not know what to write about, how to brand myself, or who would care. But after writing my story for UNCUT I started to realize that the lessons I have learned in the last three years could possibly help other athletes in their struggles.
Maybe my obstacles the last three years could make life a little easier for someone else or at the very least they can relate to what I am saying.
My hope for this is that I can show the different lessons I have learned throughout my journey, in addition to things I wish someone would have told me before I was a collegiate athlete. Also, I am going to throw in how my life has been after my medical retirement, how I re identified myself, and where I want to go from here.
While the idea of being completely vulnerable still terrifies me, I am hoping over the course of this semester I will be able to give some kind of perspective and understanding to what student-athletes go through.