Special Release - How to Advocate for Your Health as a Student-Athlete with Jade Waskom

Key Points, Top Takeaways and Memorable Quotes - “What was interesting about this concussion compared to my last is the impact of it wasn’t as hard as previous concussions I had.” 5:07“When you feel concussed immediately, you should step out!” 5:44“It's a really hard thing to describe if you haven't been concussed before, but you truly feel like an alien almost.  You don’t recognize yourself, you don’t recognize your mind, you don't recognize, situations feel ten times more awkward.” 8:28“The most impactful thing was just reaching out.” 12:35“I got to a place where, in the fall, where I was like, ‘I just want to be better.  I don’t care about volleyball anymore, I don’t care about anything, I want to be able to recognize myself.’” 23:30“That was the biggest struggle in the journey, you don’t feel like yourself because your mind is traumatized, but yet your mind controls everything.” 25:53“My goal is to be free when I play volleyball now.” 31:32“So I put on this almost, like just this mentality that everyone around me, I don’t care about your assumptions anymore, those are your assumptions.  That’s not my experience.” 34:20“The truest and most courageous decision was to step away and that was the harder decision to be doing, not the easier decision.” 40:24“I mean I think one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is not letting other people’s assumptions, expectations, voices become your own.” 45:43Guest Bio - Jade Waskom grew up playing indoor and beach volleyball as early as age six. She pursued her Division 1 goals at Long Beach State University playing both indoor and beach volleyball. However, after freshman year and battling the pandemic, she switched to playing full-time on the beach team. Around March of 2021 Jade received her sixth concussion, which started her year and a half long struggle with post-concussion syndrome. This was an extremely tough battle, but led her to making the biggest transformations in her life.  Show Notes - 0:00 - WIMTS Podcast Intro0:32 - Introducing Jade Waskom1:00 - Welcome to Jade2:18 - Childhood & Family Background3:26 - March 17, 2021 & My 6th Concussion10:10 - Dealing with Feelings11:30 - Advice to Teammates on Being Supportive13:49 - Feeling Unable to Advocate for Yourself16:21 - Halfway Healing Vs. 100% Commitment to Healing19:23 - Relaxation, Rest, & Recovery in Nature22:15 - Fall 202125:07 - Cleared Spring 2022 & Starting Therapy28:53 - BB Commercial29:01 - Journey Back to Our True Self30:24 - After Resting, How Did Things Start to Change For You?35:05 - Month of Camping & Aligning with Yourself38:00 - Hardest Part of Medical Retirement43:06 - Where Do You Go From Here?45:25 - One Piece of Advice 47:15 - Where Can People Find You?48:02 - Bringing it Full Circle49:36 - Deleting Social Media51:37 - Thank You52:18 - WIMTS Podcast ClosingLinks & Where to Find Jade - IG - @jadewaskomBook Recommendation: Untamed by Glennon Doyle