A history of close to a hundred lives through the halls of the West Gym. Countless stories of joys of victory and disappointments of defeat breathe through these walls. The mats in the gym have witnessed the growth of ordinary men and women turning into amazing wrestlers, representing their states and country. The history of West Gym has given birth to five Olympians. Amongst them was Bill Smith, the gold medalist from the 1952 Helsinki Games.

Discovery of some structural issues has forced the Panthers to vacate their 98-year-old West Gym. Almost a century-old West Gym has been the longtime home of the Panthers. Amidst this heartbreaking eviction, the head coach of the University of Northern Iowa Doug Schwab had some words of kindness to share. An emotional plea for mental health awareness.

A plea of kindness and love

University of Northern Iowa wrestling (UNIwrestling) recently posted a video on their official X account. It shows Doug Schwab speaking on mental health. “Go be the difference for somebody, you can do that, that’s just kindness, that’s just awareness, that’s just not being caught up in our head about ourselves all the time.” Coach Schwab said in an emotional plea. Going through the heartbreak of evicting the historic West Gym, the head coach of the University of Northern Iowa Doug Schwab had a word to say to the student wrestlers of the university.

He added while addressing the students, “It’s okay to struggle, it’s part of life”. Coach Schwab told his students to reach out to people, to reach out to the campus, there are resources available for the students, to help them out, to counsel them, and to help them grow. While addressing the students, he mentioned that the help is not limited to wrestling. It’s for life, to help them grow not just in wrestling, but in life.

Mental health, an active crisis

  Student mental health is in crisis. According to the Healthy Minds Study, more than 60% of college students had some sort of mental health problem during the 2020-21 school year. The data was collected from 373 campuses nationwide.  The stigma around mental health is just starting to decrease. College students are juggling diverse challenges from on-campus coursework, relationships, economic strain, social injustice, and all the loss related to the pandemic or losing someone to mental health stigma.

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University students, and student-athletes, all go through their share of struggle, and in those moments, you find yourself isolated. Coach Schwab and educators like him are the very reason that there is this positive impact. Vocal about their issues, students are opening up. “If it makes a difference for one person, it’s worth it,” Coach Doug Schwab said.

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