Date of Award

Spring 2025

Thesis Type

Open Access

Degree Name

Master of Liberal Studies

Advisor(s)

Dr. Andres Romero

Second Advisor

Dr. Lisa Tillmann

Abstract

This autoethnographic thesis explores the deeply personal and culturally embedded experience of injury, recovery, and identity as a collegiate athlete. It foregrounds the psychological toll of physical injury, the silence around disordered eating in athletics, and the gendered dynamics that render certain injuries and bodies invisible. This narrative is not meant to stand in for every athlete’s experience, but to ask what one individual experience reveals about the broader systems collegiate athletes inhabit. These systems are shaped by performance-based expectations, disposability, and silence. Drawing from lived experience, I trace my own trajectory as an athlete through the tightrope of recruitment, challenges of an ACL tear, and the fallout of an eating disorder, highlighting how recovery is not a linear return to “normal” but a continuous negotiation of self-worth, community, and embodiment. Ultimately, this work argues that recovery is not just about returning to sport but about reclaiming one’s humanity beyond performance on the field.

Rights Holder

Aleksa Allen

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