My Story: Concussions

   I've been in the concussion club; three times in the past year.  I thought it was important to talk about them.  Much of the concussion research has been more recent and has caused changes in many athletic programs so they are safer.  I thought I would share some of my experience with them, just so you all have some more information.
    A concussion has many effects besides what might be conventionally known.  Yes, I have headaches everyday still, even though I got my last concussion over a month ago.  I was out of school for three weeks, which has left me in a position where I'm very behind on my schoolwork.  It's going to be a very long process for me to be able to get up to speed with all of my classes, especially since I've decided to do the IB Diploma.  If my problems persist I may have to drop the diploma.  Because this was my third in a year, I'm no longer allowed to play sports.  As a senior I was looking forward to playing soccer for my school one last year.  That's no longer a possibility for me and it's something that disappoints me greatly.  The last consequence that may not be known to everyone is the emotional toll that concussions take on you.  This is something that I have had particular problems with.  Whenever I'm concussed I've noticed that my emotions are much less balanced then they normally are, as someone who already deals with anxiety, it causes many problems.  For instance, its much easier to make me cry now than it normally is.  I also get frustrated more.  This is because of the emotionally imbalance but also because of my feelings towards being concussed and not being able to work at my full capacity.
    A concussion never goes away.  It's a brain injury and those, in some amount, never go away.  Which means that I might be dealing with these problems for the rest of my life.  It's something that I'll just have to adjust to and live with, there's nothing I can do about it.
    However, the only good thing to come out of this was that it really showed me that people cared.  I got tweets and texts from my friends telling me they missed me and asking when I was coming back to school.  I got a care package from one of my dorm parents with notes from everyone from the dorm.  These things were really something that helped me get through some of the feelings of hurt that I wasn't  at school experiencing all the things I should have been.
     Overall, I just want this to be a warning to you all to try and be safe with what you do to yourself.  No one wants a concussion, they aren't pleasant at all.  If you play sports, just be as safe as you can, you can never prevent anything from happening but you can takes steps that help.  But I also just wanted you all to see more about what it's like, just to have some more information so that you have another point of view.
   Stay happy and healthy!!!