Promotions of Mental Health Reflection 4

1/8/24

After reading all of the resources on resilience, it was validating to see the emphasis on relationships and connections. I am so thankful for my friends and family. When I am having a hard day or going through a challenging situation, I know I can count on my friends and family to listen to me and support me. My friends are so supportive of me when I talk about things that I struggle with; I know that they care and love me. As an athlete, I have been on several teams over the years, allowing me to meet new people and feel connected to something. Being a part of a basketball team in college helped me have an outlet when I was stressed and struggling with my mental health. 

I have known for years that I wanted to be a physical education teacher. It was my favorite class growing up, and I loved the teachers I had in high school. While I have achieved my dream job, it is less dream-like than I thought. My school has a great sense of community, and while the students can be challenging, I still enjoy teaching them. The hardest part of my job is that it can be a hostile work environment. The physical education department, specifically, is not a great workplace. My co-workers can be rude and hard to work with; it causes me a lot of anxiety. I dread going to work most days because of a few people. But my job gives me a purpose. Helping my students gives me a purpose in life. I want to see them grow up and be good people. Even if a student struggles with playing a sport like volleyball or does not like to run, I want them to leave my class feeling successful. Maybe we could talk through a problematic friend situation or try something new. While I have had a lot of positive influences, I know I also have things to work on. A struggle I have is that I get caught up in negative thoughts, but I have been working on embracing healthy and positive thoughts about myself, my job, relationships, and body image. I also want to work on my personal wellness; I want to start stretching before I go to bed and go for walks more.

Resilience is a complex skill to learn. Students need to be guided to understand it both personally and academically. I have also witnessed many students giving up when things get too complicated or stressful. Some students in class will shout out, “I do not want to do this,” “This is too hard, I am not doing it,” or “I don’t feel like doing this.” When material or activities are too hard, they would rather not do it than try it, ask for help, or reference prior knowledge. Students need to be challenged in the classroom. And they need to be encouraged to work hard. Teachers must tell students they are proud of them and recognize their hard work. I never want to cause a student extreme stress, but I want to challenge them and teach them to work through hardships. Children are struggling in the classroom yet seem to be resilient to friend drama or challenging home situations. But considering friend and family situations, students must be prepared to work through hardships. In health class, I think relieving stress techniques could be taught and applied to this topic. Fostering wellness was a big idea in one of the articles and another skill students need to be prepared for. Mindfulness is starting to become a big deal in school, and my school created the help zone. Students can go down there if they need a brain break or help with their anxiety. Students can color, journal, use fidget toys, and other soothing options. In physical education, we have a yoga unit and a walking unit where we empathize with students that these are good ways to practice self-care and mindfulness. Physical education and health classes are the perfect environment to promote positive lifestyle factors like proper nutrition and hydration, getting enough sleep, and regular exercise. Students should learn to adapt to stress and reduce the toll that emotions like anxiety or depression can have on their brains and bodies (Building your resilience, 2020, para. 12).

Another way to help students build their resilience is to be a trusted adult in their lives. “The single most common factor for children who develop resilience is at least one stable and committed relationship with a supportive parent, caregiver, or other adult” (Resilience, 2020, para. 3). I have over 200 students in physical education, and I am in middle school and high school. As important as it is to me to build relationships, I know there are kids I do not have a strong relationship with. I hope to build strong relationships with the students in my health classroom, as it is easier to have one-on-one conversations. But as a coach of basketball and cross country, I can have that now. Not only does being on a team help students build connections with their peers, but it allows me to be a trusted adult in their lives. 

Resilience is a skill. No one is born resilient, but people go through experiences that help them become resilient. I have resilience; I know I do from all my life hardships. I have experienced disappointment, heartbreak, and depression.  One article states that “As much as resilience involves “bouncing back” from these difficult experiences, it can also involve profound personal growth” (Building your resilience, 2020, para. 4). As I have struggled with my mental health and experienced other trauma, I have also grown as a person. I am thankful for the experiences I have been through, as they make me the man I am today. 

References

American Psychological Association. (2020, February 1). Building your resilience. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/topics/resilience/building-your-resilience  

Resilience. Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. (2020, August 17). https://developingchild.harvard.edu/science/key-concepts/resilience/