Julissa S. Transcript

It was in February where my life basically changed in a matter of seconds.

I was in Monterey playing a game of rugby when there was a tackle. I was covering the ball and the other player did not come in correctly. And we basically butted heads. I immediately felt a headache and was not feeling 100% but I kept playing. I was with my coach, my teammates, and their athletic trainer. Their athletic trainer told me to just basically drink some water – I could be dehydrated and it could be because of the sun.

So that’s what I did.

I went back home, continued my week normally as I would. So I would watch shows, I would go to class, I went to work, I went to the library to study, I would do my homework. Basically everything I was doing, it just became a lot harder to do it. I would get constant headaches.

I started noticing that I became very sensitive to light. I wasn’t sleeping the best. And if I did, I would sleep during the day and not at night. It was really weird. I had a lot of mood swings and I was very irritable. I definitely got more anxiety and depression because of it.

During my concussion it was very difficult for me to grasp what it was because not a lot of people know what it is since it’s not a visible injury. You can’t really assign or diagnose it. You have to kind of go with how you’re feeling and assess it from that.

When I went to the health center, they did some tests and they said I could possibly have a concussion. They didn’t say I did. So I kept going with my days and it wasn’t until I went to the athletic trainer and told her what happened – she did another few tests of remembering, word recognition, days, months – she was on that told me I had a concussion and that I have take it easy, which was very difficult considering that I’m on a quarter system and I only have 10 weeks for three courses.

My professors didn’t want to believe the fact that I had a concussion and they didn’t want to give me the help that I needed because they didn’t know how to help or so I think. All I actually ended up getting was extended times on my exams. And that was not willingly on the part of the professors but more on the part of the school and that they demand that the professor’s to give me extra time.

Exams were very difficult for me because I couldn’t retain nor hold information since I couldn’t study due to the fact that all of my books and all the information was on a screen and was in small font and small text.

I started recording my lectures and that’s when things became a little bit easier but it was still harder to remember and retain the information.

After a bit more research, and my athletic trainer telling me normally how long a concussion lasted, it became clear to me that because I did not know what a concussion was and because I did not start the proper treatment for it in a sense, my concussion ended up lasting longer than a normal one. A normal one usually lasts about two to three weeks.

Mine ended up lasting two to three months. And that was a very long time for me to hold back. I could not not do sports, I could not not study, not read or do what I normally would. It was very frustrating for me to change my life, my lifestyle.

After a while I realized how important it was to actually take it easy so that my brain could heal and it does have the time to get better so that I can get better and go back to the things that I love doing.

It’s very important to spread awareness mainly because it is something real and something that people can’t see. And everyone is different – their experiences are going to change and the time for every concussion is going to change.

If I could go back and give advice to someone who has a concussion or who currently has a concussion or even to myself when I got my concussion, it would definitely be to take my time, not try to recover as fast as possible. Definitely understand and listen to my body to what it needs not to get frustrated. When I couldn’t learn or when I couldn’t do something, to take the time and actually rest. That was the most difficult part for me.

To definitely stay positive minded.

Don’t stress, try to be as vocal and to advocate for yourself and what you need. Because like I said everyone is different, so if one person recovers in a week, that’s good for them. You may need longer. Definitely understand your body and its needs.