Permanent link for A Letter to My Younger Self from a Laker Who Kept Going on February 2, 2026

Hi there! My name is Olivia Behen and I am a sophomore on the volleyball team. As I was preparing how to put my story into words, my mind kept drawing blanks. All I kept thinking of was younger Liv and how thrilled she would be that I’m here writing this now! So, I decided that I’m going to write a letter to her, and just maybe, this letter can resonate with others too. 

Dear Liv, 

You’re currently in the midst of your sophomore year of college and you play on the volleyball team at GVSU! The same older girls you used to look up to, you are one of them now. One of the older girls that gets to live with her best friends, go on trips with her teammates, and decorate her room just how she wants to, ALL ON HER OWN! As glamorous as this all is, there’s also some other things that I bet you didn’t dream of. 

Believe it or not, I was very homesick and lacked confidence when I stepped on campus. No matter how tough I tried to act- it was hard. And yes, even though I’m a college student now… sometimes I really just wanna be with mom and dad. Freshman year was hard. It is for everyone, but a lot of the time it felt like I was being kicked while I was already down. Two days before I moved into my apartment, Uncle Paul passed away from a cruel cancer. I missed the first day of classes and drove to and from the funeral services all on my own. A couple weeks later I got into a car accident on the way to one of our games. Thankfully, both myself and the other person involved in the accident walked away un-injured, but we also walked away all on our own. About a week later, it was Uncle Paul’s first birthday in Heaven. If you remember, one of his favorite things was seeing the sunset over Lake Michigan. I had planned all day to go watch the sunset in Grand Haven that night, but the sun was down before I could get there, and this hurt deep. For the first time, I realized I didn’t have to be all on my own. In that moment, I accepted that I needed to be with people. No matter what homework assignment, social plans, or routines I had scheduled that night, they could wait. I drove to Aunt Rita’s house that night and Aunt Rita, Mom, and myself spent the rest of that very hard day together. It didn’t make things perfect, but it made things a bit softer at that moment. To quote Ted Lasso, “I promise you, there is something worse out there than being sad, and that is being alone and sad. Ain’t nobody in this room alone”. 

Now Liv, what I didn’t realize at the time is that I was never alone. My people had always been there for me and always would be, I just needed the strength to reach a hand out. After accepting that I needed my people with me, I found the strength to open up to my roommates more, find an amazing therapist to work with, and even sit down in my coach’s office to say “I am not okay, and let’s make a plan”

Fast forward a year later and life has really taken a step forward. I have the best teammates in the world, I am passionate about earning my degrees in both social work and psychology, I’m a part of the Anchor Team that is dedicated to helping my teammates and classmates get the mental health support they need… and I get to do it all with my people around me. 

Now, for anyone who may need to hear this message too- I urge you to stretch your hands out and reach out to people in times of crisis. We as humans are social creatures,

yet we live in a society that so often romanticizes getting through hard times independently. We NEED people! Life is still not perfect and it is far from easy all the time, but with the right village surrounding you, you can find the beauty in everything. I believe that is what life is all about. 

C Liv

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