As Texas shot putter Chrystal Herpin anxiously awaits the first meet of her senior year, she’s been reflecting on how the Texas Athletics program has changed her not only as an athlete but as a person.

After starting her junior season with her personal best in shot put and competing throughout this summer, Herpin has a lot to look back on with pride.

“I did end up competing in the Olympic Trials,” Herpin said. “I was like, ‘How did I get here?’”

Going into her last season, prioritizing her athletic career is important to her, but she also wants to take care of the person behind the athlete. 

“The ultimate goal is to score at nationals,” Herpin said. “But I think my biggest personal goal is going to be working on my mental health.”

Herpin has been managing imposter syndrome since she began her athletic career on the Forty Acres. Imposter syndrome, defined as persistent self-doubt, was first introduced to her at a mandatory student athlete meeting.

“I went to this 4Ever Texas meeting, and these meetings are basically to help student athletes get outside of our own community,” Herpin said. “I went to this one called imposter syndrome. I didn’t even know what it was.”

4Ever Texas meetings are mandatory for student athletes, teaching them various life skills and more about themselves.

“They do a really good job of kind of grounding us and bringing us back to reality,” Herpin said. “One is career development, and the other one is financial empowerment.”

While Herpin feels connected to the Texas Athletics community and is strongly supported by the program, she admits being a student athlete can be isolating.

“It’s funny because I was talking to my teammates just the other day, and I was like, ‘I don’t really have any friends outside of track or outside of athletics,’” Herpin said.

Herpin acknowledges how overwhelming this can be, but advice from an older teammate has helped her to navigate life as a student-athlete.

“My older teammate just graduated last year. Her name’s Kiana Lowery. She was like, ‘Compartmentalizing has gotten me through everything,’” Herpin said. “It’s gotten me through quite a bit, even though I still hit my rough patches like everybody else.”

Herpin views compartmentalizing as a way to help balance the constant push and pull between student, athlete and human. Still, athletes aren’t immune to burnout or self-doubt.

Focusing on the task at hand is a mindset Herpin has found works well for her. It helps her as she enters her senior year with big dreams for her shot put career and also for her mental health.

“Being able to stay focused on the task at hand, instead of looking forward to the summer and January, I think that’s going to be my biggest thing,” Herpin said. “I’m going to focus more on the journey each day in the weight room (and) outside when we’re throwing instead of worrying about the results.”

Looking forward, Herpin is aiming to score high at nationals and make the world team, but above all else, to take it one step at a time.

“Life does whatever it wants to do,” Herpin said. “I’ve come to that understanding.”