The end of the road is approaching for most senior NCAA swimmers and divers. Your final season, your final conference meet, or even your final national championships. There are very few opportunities to swim professionally, so live it up and have a great rest-of-your-life… right?

Well the transition from college sports to the “real world” will be hard for this year’s graduating class, not only because of the state of the job market, but because of a crucial shift in personal identity. Graduation will not only signify the conclusion of a chapter in this class’ academic life, but possibly the culmination of their entire career as an athlete.

I’m writing this article to hopefully help student athletes who are facing the retirement of their athletic identity. Six months after my final college diving meet, I felt stuck, unmotivated, unsatisfied, and secluded. I sought counseling at the Student Health Services Center for possible depression, while at the same time I was reading through my sport psychology textbooks for answers.

I realized that I was in the middle of an identity shift, in the process of re-establishing who I was outside of sports. Looking back, I don’t think I was very well prepared to go through such a transition. I would have liked some more advanced warning of what to expect, and how to make the transition as smooth as possible. This guide will hopefully do just that, provide information about the upcoming transition as well as tips for adjusting as easily as possible.

I. Personal Description Activity

Activity: Describe yourself in a list of 25 things. You only have a few minutes so write the first things that come to mind.

**AFTER COMPLETION OF ACTIVITY**:
After you have completed the activity, look at the first 5 items. Although you were not instructed to list the items in order of importance, the items you listed first are most likely the ones that you consider the most important or descriptive…
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I’m not sure why this article got cut off, but I posted it again here: Student Athletes in Transition: Avoiding Post-Retirement Identity Difficulties, it makes a great handout or outline for a presentation.