Olivia Miller posted the track team's fastest times in the 800 and 1,500-meter races in the spring, but the impact she is making outside of her sports may be even more impressive. The junior runner is leading the charge for the advocacy of mental health awareness for student-athletes. Olivia became a member of the non-profit organization known as The Hidden Opponent after having her own struggle with her mental health. This summer, the organization nominated Olivia to become Pepperdine's official "Campus Captain" for mental health awareness.
 
In this interview, Olivia touches on what The Hidden Opponent does to raise mental health awareness for student-athletes, upcoming events and projects taking place during October's mental health awareness month, why this subject is important to her, and an idol that has influenced her to become such a significant part of this Pepperdine community:

Q: As a Tallahassee native, how does the culture in California compare to Florida? What do you enjoy about living in Malibu? 
 
A: The culture is very different. I grew up in North Florida in a very small town where everyone seems to know each other. Coming to the Los Angeles area has been very interesting. I like the Malibu culture more than the Florida culture. Everyone seems to care about their well-being -- mental and physical health -- many people enjoy being outdoors, there's good food, and I love getting to be by the beach as well.

Q: What is your team's mindset as the WCC cross country championships approach?
           
A: Our team mindset is to work close together so that we can close the time gap between our first girl and our fifth girl, and even beyond through our 10th girl. I feel that we have a very strong group this year. We have all been able to train and race together, and I hope that we can use this to advance ourselves as far as we can get through WCCs. 

Q: How has it been for you and the team to be directed by a first-year head coach, Lauren Floris? What type of culture has she established for your team?
 
A: It has been so amazing. I love Coach Lauren and I know I can say the same for many of my teammates. Our team's culture is very healthy, and we all really enjoy showing up each day to work hard. Having a coach that pushes and encourages us consistently has been great. Coach Lauren has been very open with communication, and is authentic and clear about what she has for our goals and plans. I think this has made all the difference in our team culture. Coach Lauren has very positively impacted the way my teammates and I interact with each other and with our coaches. I feel like the love that we all share for this sport is stronger than ever before. Our whole team really enjoys training, and we've all been seeing very positive results out at practice and on the field.  

Q: You have been working with a non-profit organization known as The Hidden Opponent. According to their website, the group "raises awareness for student-athlete mental health and addresses the stigma within sports culture." How did you get involved with this group and what does your group do to raise awareness for mental health?
 
A: I got involved with them last year. I was having an issue with my own mental health and felt like I had nowhere to turn. I didn't have a great relationship with my old coach, and I was falling out of love with running. I looked to the greater Los Angeles community for help, which was where I found The Hidden Opponent. The Hidden Opponent was founded in Los Angeles, and one of the coolest parts about this organization is that it was created by student-athletes for student-athletes. After I found them, I reached out to see how I could get involved. I learned that they were accepting "Campus Captains," and this was the position I was accepted for over the summer. Not only do I get to serve as a liaison and representative for student-athlete mental health on a large scale, but I also get to help within the Pepperdine community by providing The Hidden Opponent's resources to our student-athletes here on campus.
 
Q: What has made you so passionate about the subject of mental health?
 
A: Student-athletes arrive at college from a variety of different places, and nobody necessarily prepares you for what is to come. The training, academics and homesickness from living away from your family for the first time become more difficult as time goes on. Many seem to expect that you'll go in and perform the best at all levels, and nobody warns you about how difficult this can be. Many student-athletes may also get depressed, have performance anxiety, or get homesick. This was something I had to learn the hard way, as I had to reach out to my family members and Pepperdine's counseling center to find out what resources were available to me.
 
My goal with The Hidden Opponent is to make resources knowingly available to our athletes here at Pepperdine before they feel that they need them. This way, they know they are not alone and they can address the issue pertaining to their mental health no matter where they may be in their Pepperdine journey. It helps when student-athletes are able to talk about performance anxiety because it feels very isolating when you're the person on the team that isn't performing the best and you cannot pinpoint the cause. It's helpful to know that there are people from so many sports and different time periods that feel this same way. Just recently, we've seen Naomi Osaka and Simone Biles advocate for the importance of mental health as well. It's clearly happening at all levels, so this is an issue that is very important to me.

Q: Victoria Garrick, a former USC volleyball player, was the founder of the nonprofit that you're now working with. Do you look up to her at all?  What values within the organization that she established really resonate with you?
 
A: I always say that Victoria Garrick is my role model when asked this question. She is very inspirational to me because she began the conversation about mental health about five or six years ago before it was an influential movement within sports culture. She's gone on to do TED Talks, run a podcast, and manage many other forms of social media. She uses real posts that showcase her life, so she has always reminded me that the struggles I have with my own mental health are valid. She was one of the reasons I looked into The Hidden Opponent because she has always advocated for it.
 
I've also been able to make so many friends within The Hidden Opponent. Since the organization is based in Los Angeles, I've made friends with people from UCLA and LMU. I've also met people from other schools across the country from a variety of different sports. I've also been able to talk to the Campus Captain at Florida State because she is from my hometown of Tallahassee. I really value the way that we're all able to come together and support each other. We have authentic conversations, bounce ideas off of each other, attend meetings with Victoria, and come together to find the next thing we can do to help our community. We then use these ideas by bringing them to our individual schools and helping our respective communities there.
 
I feel like many people in D-I sports think about mental health, but are not sure where to turn for help. When you experience the highs of athleticism that include competing well, performing well academically, and gaining the fame that comes with accomplishing these things, athletes tend to worry less about their mental health. As soon as these things change, your mental health can take a turn for the worse. It's nice to be a part of such a broad community that thinks the same way as I do regarding the importance of mental health. 

Q: What does it mean to you to be named Pepperdine's Campus Captain? What resources has Pepperdine provided you with in order to advocate for the mental health awareness of Pepperdine's student-athlete population?
 
A: It's been very cool to be a Campus Captain. I feel very honored to hold this position, as I've had people from all sports reach out to thank me for things I've done such as speaking at student-athlete orientation or posting about the importance of student-athlete mental health on my Instagram. Knowing that the effort I am putting in to advocate for this issue is resonating with people is very impactful to me. I really want people to know that they're not alone in their struggles with their mental health because this was something I felt as a student-athlete at Pepperdine. 
 
Pepperdine's support has been great. After I was accepted as Campus Captain over the summer, I emailed almost everyone that could help me raise awareness on the issue of mental health and they were all very welcoming. Coach Lauren let us wear green ribbons in our hair during our meet at Santa Clara, to support mental health awareness. The administrative staff has been very helpful as well. Dr. Steve Potts and Amanda Kurtz have been particularly helpful and have really let me take the lead on this program. Dr. Alex Cushing, from the counseling center, is my sponsor. I talk with him about the vision for the program while I'm there. I also get to work with the media department, and especially with Morgan Davenport, who runs Pepperdine Athletics' social media account. It's been really nice to have so many people embrace this movement, and it's helped us move quickly in order to make these resources available to our athletes. 

Q: Since October is mental health awareness month, do you have any special events taking place? If so, when are they and what will they entail? How is Pepperdine helping you put on some of these events? 
           
A: Pepperdine is helping me a lot with everything. They're helping me with the funding aspect, and different upcoming projects. Dr. Alex Cushing and I designed mental health awareness wristbands that are available for every student-athlete. Morgan Davenport and I are working on a mini-series for mental health awareness month. It will feature athletes from different teams that share why mental health matters to us. The miniseries will also show how Pepperdine has supported us in our mental health journeys while competing as a student-athlete.
 
We hope to do more mental health awareness games in the future, as we've thought about doing a mental health awareness basketball or soccer game. My individual team has also done green ribbons for mental health awareness. The Hidden Opponent's events have been advertised in the Waves Weekly Newsletter, which is produced by Spencer Wickens. It has different events put on by different campus clubs such as the counseling center, RISE or SWAB. I'm grateful that I'm able to communicate these events with our student-athletes and the greater Pepperdine community. 

Q: What does it mean to you to receive so much support from the university?
 
A: Once I was able to further explore my options and then take the initiative to join The Hidden Opponent, everyone has fully embraced why mental health awareness matters to me. I feel that mental health awareness has been talked about more this year than any other year before. This is very helpful as we are all going through drastic lifestyle changes following our return from the pandemic. I understand this from the student-athlete perspective, as I was sent home my freshman year, had no season last year, and have now returned to Pepperdine with a new head coach. Everyone at Pepperdine is going through this hectic period of transition, so I feel that it is very important for the Pepperdine community to embrace mental health awareness. Pepperdine and the Athletics staff has done a great job in allowing me to talk about this issue as well as supporting me while I do it. 

Q: Who would you say is your greatest idol? What drives you to be such a meaningful part of the Pepperdine community? 
 
A: I always say that Victoria Garrick is my idol because I absolutely adore her. She is so real and really highlights what it's like to be a student athlete. I know she understands this since she competed for USC. Pepperdine and USC are both D-I schools, so I'm really able to relate to her message on the mental health awareness of student-athletes. Victoria also goes on speaking tours, as well as having her own nonprofit and podcast. All of these great qualities make her, in my mind, the coolest ever.
 
One of the reasons that I chose Pepperdine was because of its community and the ways that you're able to be so impactful. Pepperdine is not a huge school and all the students here hold very similar values. It's been really cool to be at a school where so many people show incredible support for something that I'm passionate about. It's been really nice to have an impact at Pepperdine because I'm not sure if I would have this same experience at a bigger school. This has really kept me going because I've received so many kind words from others. All of these things reassure me that there is purpose behind what I am doing to help our community. I really hope this movement can just grow from here!