THE HEART OF A CHAMPION: MISSY RETURNS TO REGIS JESUIT

What a proud a gratifying moment this week when our most famous alumna, Missy Franklin ’13, came home for a visit. And despite the fact that we are talking about a six-time Olympic medal winner, five of those gold, Missy’s address to our students was not about her athletic achievements. Rather, it was about her humanity and vulnerability. Missy came to talk about her struggles with anxiety and depression–something many of our students know plenty about. About one in five teens today experience depression. 

Having a bona fide superhero talk about suffering from anxiety and depression, and about the steps she took to take control of her life and her future, was enormously impactful to our community. Missy had everyone’s attention.

She described the euphoria she experienced with her astounding achievements in the London Olympics in 2012 followed by the terror she felt as she approached the 2016 Olympics in Rio. Despite all of the work she put in, she knew that she wasn’t ready or capable of performing at the same levels she had four years earlier, and she was getting ready to demonstrate that in front of an audience of—fathom this—two billion people. It makes my palms sweat just typing that. And then, after each race, she had to proceed through a gauntlet of 41 media outlets from all over the world to answer the question, “what happened?” 

Those were the dark days.

Missy described that she could relate to people who feel like the weight of the world is on their shoulders and with feelings of letting people down. The lessons she shared were simple and important: tell someone who cares about you that you are struggling. Seek help. Begin to expand your idea of yourself. For Missy, this meant that she had to let go of the idea that she was a swimmer and only a swimmer. She had to remember that in addition to being a swimmer, she is a daughter, a student, a fiancé and, perhaps most powerfully, “a daughter of Christ.” 

If it wasn’t enough to describe courageously what was a very painful journey, Missy also spent time taking the questions of our students, ranging from the serious to the silly. She shared her fond memories of the retreats she experienced at Regis Jesuit; she gave advice on what to do if you are struggling with depression; she demonstrated that she can still get down on the ground and do the worm; and she received a brazen proposal to attend prom. 

Missy took on each with the same level of honesty, and she didn’t back down from answering anything. Truly, on Wednesday morning, she demonstrated what being a Woman with and for Others is all about by simply being real and vulnerable with our students. We are so grateful to her.

Later that same evening, I had the honor of attending her induction into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame. During the pre-event reception, one of the guests recognized that I was representing Regis Jesuit High School and asked if we have had a lot of alumni inducted into the Hall of Fame. “No, not a lot,” I said, proudly. There just aren’t many people like Missy Franklin.

God bless you, Missy. AMDG