Isabel DeSanno: How I'm still using lessons from LEAD

My name is Isabel DeSanno. I am a three-time LEAD alumnus (2017, 2018, 2019), and I wanted to share some of the specific ways LEAD changed me as a swimmer and a young woman.

Firstly, I am currently in my third year competing for Kean University in Union, New Jersey. Although my dream from a very young age was to swim in college, I can confidently say that I would not have had the active tools or resources to do this without the help from LEAD. I truly would not have known where to begin with the recruiting process without helpful guidance from the speakers and breakout sessions at LEAD. I took what I learned about recruiting and talking to coaches and was able to secure offers from several D2 and D3 universities. I was told, "there is a program for every swimmer," and I found that true. The program at Kean had everything I was looking for and more, and I am very happy with my decision to continue my swim career in college.

Now for the main portion, how I am applying skills I learned from LEAD into my life:

After news broke last spring about more athletes in the NCAA losing their lives to mental health, my two best friends and I decided we had to do something. We reached out to our athletic department and the President's office at our university and kick-started the mental health conversation at Kean. Now, our athletic department has open sessions where athletes can talk about mental health with professionals; we also have specialized academic advisors through athletics that help those struggling in the classroom.

My friends, Brianna Shaw and Amanda Davis, both third-year swimmers like myself, and I also decided to start something of our own. We created Huddle: the first mental health and wellness organization designed for student-athletes at Kean University. We create educational-based content for our Instagram (@keanhuddle); I truly believe that educating students on the warning signs of mental health could help save someone's life. We also have in-person meetings that allow students to relax and connect with each other off the court or field. Our first general body meeting was on October 6th; we played pickle ball, spike ball, and kanjam and provided snacks for students! I would say it was a great success.

Huddle is something I am genuinely proud of. I like to say that Huddle doesn't belong to me, Bri, or Amanda, but it belongs to all of the student-athletes. I am so excited to see how it will grow.

I do not think that without the leadership skills I learned at LEAD, I would have the confidence to speak out on such an issue as mental health. It took some guts to email the university's president and tell him we did not think the school was doing enough for mental health; however, so far, I would say that risk has paid off. The confidence I learned from Coach Christen was life-changing and not something I take for granted. I don't find myself thinking, "What if everyone hates Huddle?" or "What if no one shows up to this event?" Rather, I know how my leadership style can be translated into doing actual work and helping those around me.