Kelsey Varzeas, EdM, is a doctoral student at The Ohio State University in the Department of Educational Studies pursuing a PhD degree in Higher Education and Student Affairs. Her research focus is student-athlete development with an emphasis on mental health and wellness. Recently, Kelsey was a co-author for a paper titled, Compassionate Teaching During COVID-19: Key Approaches in a College Success Center and a contributor for an oral presentation at the 2020 Applied Sport Management Association Conference titled, Realms of Stress Among Collegiate Student-Athletes. Kelsey is an instructor for the Dennis Learning Center’s flagship course Learning and Motivation Strategies for Success in College. In her role, she incorporates mental health and well being strategies to help students determine what success means to them. In 2017, Kelsey received her Master of Education in Counseling with a specialization in Sport and Performance Psychology. Kelsey will soon be a Certified Mental Performance Consultant, which demonstrates the highest standards of professional practice for sport and performance psychology consultants. Kelsey would refer to herself as an outdoor enthusiast. She finds great pleasure in endurance running, hiking, and backcountry skiing. You can often find her lying in her hammock reading a book.

In this episode, Kelsey and I go into her varied background in athletics–from her experience as a skier, Division I soccer player, and runner, her past role as an adaptive ski instructor, and her current work in collegiate athlete mental health. In the time of COVID, when collegiate athletes face large amounts of uncertainty regarding when and how their careers will unfold, Kelsey’s work takes on new significance.

Also discussed in this episode:

• Journal of Sport Management
• Applied Sports Psychology
• Strong Runner Chicks
• NEDA (National Eating Disorders Association)
• NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness)
• Walden Behavioral Care

Follow/contact Kelsey

• Instagram: @kelseyamabale
• Email: varzeask@gmail.com

Follow Social Sport:

• Instagram: @socialsportpod
• Facebook: @socialsportpod
• Twitter: @emmamzimm

Quote: “𝘼 𝙡𝙤𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙘 𝙙𝙚𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙗𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙙. 𝙄 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙬𝙚’𝙧𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙨 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙤 𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙚𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣.”