By Nevaeh Porter, Aquinas Reporter
During the three months of this semester, students from multiple teams at Aquinas College have gotten various injuries: concussions, sprained shoulders, rolled ankles, sprained knees and other various injuries.
Being an athlete in collegiate level athletics means that while most students would prefer not to get injured, they are always prepared for the possibility of it happening.
When asked about her injury and whether she was worried about what would happen with both of her teams, Women’s Cross Country runner Jayden Baker answered with, “Yes and no. Obviously being injured as an athlete is scary, but Woj (our coach) is super reassuring and really cares about his athletes’ healing. He’s really good about getting me workouts so I don’t fall behind. So when I’m back, I can start where I left off.”
Jayden Baker and Jaben Bakker at the first meet of the cross country season – Photo by Jayden Baker
Similarly, when asked about whether or not he was worried about his shoulder injury, Men’s Hockey player Nolan Rasmussen responded with, “Not at all. I could move it still, it was a little painful, but I finished the game. It wasn’t really that big of an issue, I didn’t really think it was sprained, I just thought it was tweaked a little.”
This was Rasmussen’s response when asked whether he was worried about continuing hockey after his injury. “Not at all,” Rasmussen said. “Thankfully it was my non-dominant arm, so I had a similar injury a couple of years ago and it was my right arm, so I had to do everything left-handed for like two weeks. But no, it was fine.”
This leads into another point about sports injuries. When a student gets injured, it is important to keep a positive mindset. When injured athletes have a negative mindset, it could hinder their recovery. Keeping a positive mindset and staying optimistic about returning to play can be the turning point in an athlete’s career.
“I’ve overreacted before,” Baker said. “But I’ve learned that your attitude towards your injury definitely helps you heal. An injury is mental and physical, I think it’s so important.”
“I would say so, yeah,” Rasmussen said when asked the same question. “I think you have to think of it like it’s only a one to two week injury, you’re going to come back. It’s not like you’re going to be out for the rest of the season.”
Sports injuries can seem like a huge deal, especially in the moment, but sometimes being able to stay calm and positive
Nolan Rasmussen celebrates goal against Adrian College – Photo by Grace Malec
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