MBX hosts event to teach students to reduce stress

By Julia Oudiz

Staff Writer

Former Dodgers baseball player and Mira Costa parent Eric Karros spoke to parents and students at the MBX Finding the Balance event on May 19 in the small theater about techniques to reduce student stress.

According to Executive Director of MBX, Jennifer Williams, and chair of the event, Carolyn Robb, the Finding the Balance symposium was meant to bring students, parents and teachers together to learn how to relieve student anxiety and stress. In addition, Karros talked about how students can balance their lives with schoolwork and extracurricular activities.

“Our event focused [on] the emotional well-being of our students and how that is reflected in their performance and satisfaction in their sports and [other] activities as well as in the classroom,” Williams said.

During the event, Karros’ daughter, Mikah Maly-Karros, spoke along with marriage and family therapist, Dr. Steve Gautreau, and Performance Sports and Child Psychologist, Dr. Jacob Insler. They spoke about ways to balance both emotional and physical effects of participating in activities at school. At the end of the event, there was an opportunity for the audience to ask questions.

“We approached Eric Karros because he is a parent in our community and has been involved with sports at a very high level as has his daughter,” Williams said. “He understands the stresses that come with doing an extracurricular activity. He also has first hand experience in raising children in this environment. Dr. Insler and Dr. Gautreau also have experienced the effects both emotional and physical of participating in sports and other activities at a high level.”

The speakers talked about about outside pressures and how those pressures may affect people, which can affect performance in school, sports and other activities. According to Karros, the goal of his talk was to provide families and teachers with tools to help alleviate some of their anxieties.

“Teens today are under a tremendous amount of stress,” Karros said. “Whether it is school, sports, or other activities, it’s easy to place too much emphasis in one area and neglect what’s happening on the inside.”

According to Karros, Maly-Karros spoke about her experience at Costa. She was on the basketball team and as a result, struggled with stress. After graduating from Costa, she received her master’s degree in Clinical Psychology. She now works in the psychology field, where she speaks to teens and young adults who struggle with balancing their lives with school.

“She brings her story and the realness of some of the stresses of Mira Costa and our community,” Karros said. “The parents may focus on my speech, but the students will relate more to her.”

According to Williams, there was a symposium last year about wellness for student athletes. She hopes to make these events annual. MBX first planned Finding the Balance by choosing the overall theme, whihc was keeping with the overarching goal at Costa. MBX then contacted speakers they felt were appropriate for the event.

“I think it’s nice to attend these kind of events with friends and parents,” Williams said. “[It helps to] brings friends and the parents [in the] community together.”