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Kylie Dew

Clair Wilden

English 120

11 Sept. 2021

Athlete Spotlight: Laiken Sturn

Junior year of High School is the hardest year they say, and for Laiken Sturn, that statement

reigned true. Having major success in a sport is something to be proud of, but when it ruins your life:

mentally, physically, and emotionally, there is no reward. Laiken explains, “during my diving season…I

literally was just busy 100 percent of the time.” She talks about the common issue of going into auto

pilot in life with every day seeming to be the same repetitive cycle, “do my homework, go to my

practice, go home (and) do my homework” (Sturn). This is not the way the average 16-year-old kid

should live life and Sturn elaborates, “it was horrible, it was very bad for my mental health.” By having

such a busy lifestyle can be good for someone but when it takes over your life and you never do

anything besides work, whether it be school or for athletics, your life quality will deteriorate. With the

“busy bee” lifestyle, it is easy to fall behind and withdraw yourself from life. With thoughts of “not

having enough time,” she personally noticed changes in lifestyle day to day such as: not eating,

deteriorating mental health, and seclusion from social interaction with her friends, family members, and

her community. This dramatic change resulted all because Laiken felt as if she was at a loss of time to do

essential tasks in her life. A negative effect of being on auto pilot was the oblivion of the withdrawal

Sturn was experiencing in her life. “I wasn’t eating, because I didn’t realize it,” Laiken explains

cumbersomely. This is an issue she faced as a result from her go-go-go lifestyle. The seclusion continued

into her other sport she participated in, gymnastics, where she played a crucial role in the Fargo-

Morehead Acro team. Self-isolated, she talks about how, “nobody wanted to talk to me anymore and I

didn’t want to talk to them.” This is a big red flag when thinking about the life of a teenage girl. Life
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started to look up after her counselor intervened and brought up her concerns for Laiken and her newly

possessed lifestyle and habits. The realization of all the changes she seemed so oblivious to, quickly

overcame her and she knew she had some work to do to get back to the previous version of herself. To

make these changes she challenged herself by, “starting to talk to a lot of people, talking to (her) mom.”

A new solution Sturn found to get out feelings and thoughts was by journaling, which was a way to

express anything she was feeling onto paper. Just when she was seeing the light at the end of the tunnel

though, the COVID-19 pandemic shook the foundation that was just starting to settle. The pandemic

impacted all the progress that had just taken place. On the bright side though she explains that “(I) had a

lot of time to focus on myself” and continues by saying, “(I) was able to reflect on where I was at in life.”

A good thing to come out of the craziness of quarantine she thinks was the new-found, close-knit

relationship she redeveloped with her mother. This allowed for a new appreciation for seeing friends

and peers after getting out of the quarantine phase of the global pandemic. Laiken would express that

because of this craziness she is now “the most sociable person alive.” Like most people Laiken is still

learning new life lessons daily that impact the way she views life and does things day to day. “Nothing is

easy, you always have to put in the work, and you only get out what you put in,” she also included that

“listening to yourself is one of the most important things you can do.” Laiken has learned a lot about

independence and self-acceptance and would advise to others that what other people think does not

matter.

Laiken Sturn feels someone else would describe herself as, “straight forward, dedicated, busy,

impatient, positive 85% of the time, and stubborn.” She goes to explain that she would think through

someone else’s eyes that she is nice but elaborates by saying not all the time. Inflexible is another word

she feels someone else could use to describe her. For someone as busy as her, a day in her life is not

short of boring. Laiken describes her day by waking up, vibing in her bed for a little bit, read or entertain

herself with her phone for twenty minutes till she is actually brave enough to venture out of her warm,
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cozy bed. Breakfast is another important part of her morning she expresses, as it is amazingly easy for

her to get a meal from the Residence Dining Center. Being a first-year student in college attending class

is a daily part of her day. Laiken talks about, “classes usually take three to four hours” of her day and

then will find time to eat lunch in between classes. Laiken Sturn has been invited to be apart of the

North Dakota State University Track Team and spends a portion of her day doing practices and various

other events with the team. Eating dinner and getting a relaxing shower in is a way she starts to wind

down her day. The life of a student athlete consists of 2 parts: being a student and being an athlete, and

the student part is particularly important. “I usually end my day by five to six hours of homework”

(Sturn). On the rare occasion that Laiken is free she enjoys taking a trip to target or visiting her family.

Though Laiken has accomplished many things in her life, she described to me an

accomplishment she achieved that was not what I would expect from an inquiry about achievement.

“Quitting diving,” Laiken goes to say, “I have always set super high expectations for myself,” and she

concluded that diving was bad for her mental health. She had so much pressure to do it from friends and

family because of her natural talent but no one believed she would walk away from the sport. After

quitting the sport, she reports that she “totally thrived.”

Laiken finds joy in being outdoors and active. Whether that be: rollerblading, walking, going to

the lake, biking you name it. When I first asked Laiken the question about things that bring her joy in life,

she jokingly answered non-hesitantly, “spending my parents’ money.” Laiken would describe herself as a

“busy bee” and follows up by saying she’s definitely a “go getter.”

When asking for background information on Laiken Sturns life, she did not fail to provide lots of

details and information about how she grew up. First, she started off by explaining to me that she “went

to a home daycare,” through her First, Second, and Third grade years. A change in the daycare landed

her at an afterschool program at TNT gymnastics called “SOAR.” At this program they introduced her to
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the sport and mentioned to her “hey you should do gymnastics,” and follows up with, “then I joined

gymnastics.” A simple success story. Laikens childhood also consisted of hanging out with the 3 other

girls on her street and even mentioning, “we did everything together.” The climate of Fargo, North

Dakota can influence how you are as a person. Laiken says, “I don’t think I would hate winter as much,”

if she did not have to experience it every year. She continues by saying “winter made me mentally

stronger,” because of her strong hatred for winter and living here has developed her perseverance

through the frigid winter months. Every. Single. Year. The frigid temperatures she added, made her

“really look forward to vacations” and “really cherish those moments,” because it is not something you

get to live every day.

Laiken is someone special who has gone through a lot in her short 18-year life that she has lived

so far. A woman of dedication and achievement she only has the rest of her life to live and experience

many new things, accomplish many new achievements, and learn so many new lessons. Laiken Sturns’s

connection to me is through residence life here at NDSU, as she is my roommate. But before college we

had been friends for years. It has been fun to get to know her on a more personal level and learn more

about her through living with her.

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Work Cited

Sturn, Laiken. Personal Interview 02 Sept. 2021