By Nicolas Baril – Contributor

Former Gaiter Stephen Adekolu delivered the keynote speech at Mental Health Week.  On Jan. 27, in front of an audience mainly composed of student-athletes, Adekolu shared his experiences as a former student-athlete and professional football player who has since transitioned into an acting career. From  Brampton, Ontario, Adekolu was a figure most students could identify with, having spent five years sporting purple and silver on the football field at Bishop’s, majoring in business. 

The former Gaiter spoke of the struggles of growing up in foster care and having to make the right decisions in life in order to end up where he wanted to go. “In order to be successful you’ll need to leave some people behind,” he expressed, implying the necessity of cutting off poor influences in order to remain focused on your goals. Adekolu also spoke about the importance of building a reliable network of people around you, whom you can count on when facing adversity. When talking of the hardships in life, he said that what truly mattered was one’s personal response and how they relied on their support network. 

The football retiree shared that he had long held an interest in acting and was always a “goofball.” He explained how he had convinced himself at a young age that he wanted to become a professional football player and dedicated his life to it. It was only later in life that he realized he was just “acting [while] playing football.” His message resonated in a room full of student-athletes, who may struggle with the reality of life after sport. He encouraged them to stay true to who they were and who they wanted to be no matter the situation brought forward. 

During the event, the keynote speaker acknowledged the multiple and overlapping stresses of being a university student, a student-athlete and someone facing uncertainty about the future with the pressures of making the right choices. He added that while students may feel that way, it is also one of the most powerful positions to be in. It is as though you were “a blank canvas,” he said. The world is what you decide to make of it, and one has the opportunity to choose whichever path they want, he said. Adekolu reassured his audience that it is okay to not know what is next, just as he did not know what life after football had in store for him. 

As the hour-long conversation concluded, the former Gaiter reiterated the power of choices. His deliberate choices took him from foster care to Bishop’s, to earning a bachelor’s in business, to a five-year stint in the CFL, to a career in television acting as well as a career in a sports agency.