Pappas ran collegiately for Dartmouth College and the University of Oregon. Photo by Samantha Cleary.

ELLA HALL | STAFF REPORTER | erhall@butler.edu

Olympic runner, filmmaker and author Alexi Pappas visited Butler on Feb. 23 to share about mental wellness and navigating nonlinear life paths. She first spoke to a group of female student-athletes in a breakout session in Hinkle Fieldhouse’s Wildman Room, and later at an event on the Hinkle basketball court open to the public.

Pappas is known for several accomplishments in different facets of her life. At the 2016 Olympics, she set the Greek national record for the 10k, and has worked on several feature films, including co-writing “Olympic Dreams,” where she starred alongside Nick Kroll. Pappas is also the author of a critically acclaimed memoir, “Bravey”.

Pappas focused her time on giving students tools to frame the way they see their experiences differently, especially in times of uncertainty, painting a mindset as a powerful force. 

The Olympian encouraged students to view their identity as evolving rather than fixed, or in her words, to see themselves as a verb. She also emphasized the importance of staying on your own team and being able to be your own resource for validation.

“We need [to], we deserve [to], and we must become our own first resource,” Pappas said. “I want you to build this muscle that is willing to ask for help, and also the awareness that you can build that awesome relationship and that conversation with yourself, and having both of those things is going to make you so awesome and powerful.”

She followed this by highlighting the importance of being able to ask for help and why conversations around mental health are essential. 

“It’s not all about fixing everything,” Pappas said. “Some of it is just giving air and space to feelings, words and experiences that people may think are unique to them and then realize are more universal.” 

 Brian Tremml, Butler Athletics’ mental health director and coordinator of the event, supported this idea and shared why he thought it was important for Butler students to hear from someone like Pappas, who has explored so many different aspects of life.

“There does not have to be one path to get to where you’re going,” Tremml said. “I think that seeing yourself as a human being, rather than through the things you’re involved in, or the roles that you identify with or the things that you’re chasing [is important], and that achieving external things rarely solves internal struggle.”

In the athlete breakout session, Pappas shared excerpts from her memoir and prompted discussion between students of different sports in response to the questions she shared, promoting larger ideals of community. The ensuing conversations centered around how your inner voice affects performance in all areas of life. 

Mikayla Reed, assistant coach for Butler’s cross country and track and field programs, resonated with what Pappas shared through the lens of both a coach and an athlete.

“I can see the things that people go through, and think of a time in my own life that I went through that,” Reed said. “[Though] everybody goes through things differently, oftentimes, we think we’re alone in our struggles, and in reality, we’re not.”

Throughout both events, Pappas frequently used metaphors as a way to convey her thoughts to audience members coming from a myriad of perspectives and life experiences, especially in terms of offering reframed ideas of success.

 This reframing felt particularly relevant to Kyle Grove, a sophomore software engineering major and athlete on Butler’s cross country and track and field teams. 

“With regards to not feeling like I’m up to par, and falling into the trap of comparing myself to others, really, with running specifically, it’s quite easy to fall into that, because results are constantly being posted,” Grove said. “The way [Pappas] viewed it is like all of that has a cumulative effect, and kind of developing the ability as an athlete to view it as a cumulative effect and not just a strict loss is something that really stuck with me.”

Pappas continued returning to the idea that mindset shapes performance not just in athletics, but in life, underscoring the idea that there is no roadmap to victory, but that success is based on the way you think.