Photo by Amelia Strong

Senior Elsa Swenson is at a Morgan’s Message meeting on Nov. 13 writing down what to put on posters to hang around the school. Swenson is a Morgan’s Message ambassador who runs the meetings along with three other girls.

Morgan’s Message is a non-profit organization started in Virginia and spread to most high schools nationwide.

This club talks about mental health and athletes. Morgan Rogers was a D1 lacrosse player at Duke University who suffered from mental health and lost her battle in the spring of her sophomore year at college in 2019.

Morgan’s Message club spreads awareness about mental health and athletes. It applies to everyone, however specifically athletes because they juggle a lot more than just school.

“Morgan’s Message is more of a platform to spread awareness about specifically athletes mental health.” Elsa Swenson, Senior Morgan’s Message ambassador, said.

Swenson explained the club came to the high school because it is known for athletics and how good our athletes are.

“We have so many athletes here because we have many opportunities and way to get involved in sports.” This is really beneficial to the school specifically,” Swenson said.

Morgan’s Message is here for specifically athletes because many do not like to talk about what they are going through. Most athletes keep everything to themselves because there is this stigma that you have to be tough and strong to be an athlete. Swenson said athletes keep everything behind “close-doors”, it is important to talk more about other than just how the game went.

Morgan’s Message works hard to get their message out. They do activities and pick sport games to go and support our school teams and shares their goals. Most importantly, this club is a safe space for athletes to go and know your not alone.

“We work through some activities, but most of all we work hard to make it an open, safe space for people to come and listen, and meet people who are going through the same thing,” Myah Krueger, senior Morgan’s Message ambassador, explained.

Everyone struggles with some sort of mental health. Swenson explained, “Everybody is going through their own set of mental health and struggles, things that are kind of bumps in the road. Everyone is different and everybody’s life looks different. No matter what sport you play, everyone struggles with something.”

There is a huge stigma around mental health in general. However, when it comes to athletes they can not share their problems.

“It’s definitely something that is not talked about enough. Then, when you start to incorporate athlete’s, there is the unspoken rule about you have to be tough and keep it to your self,” Maycie Neubauer, senior Morgan’s Message ambassador, said.

This club meets once a month on Mondays and plan what they are going to do next, Swenson explained, “We will do girls and boys basketball for dedication games this winter. We have meetings once a month, in the middle of the month usually, on Mondays before school. We have an Instagram account where all of our information is posted and our meeting times and details on there.”

This stigma of mental health and athlete’s has to end or else athletes will keep struggling and will not talk to anyone. Come to this club and know you are not alone.