Devynn A Trahan is a student athlete at Skyline High school in Oakland CA. He grew up near 23rd Avenue for most of his life. He went to Cleveland elementary school for his early developmental years. He then transferred to Edna Brewer Middle school which is when he started to play football. He attended a few more middle schools before graduating from Elmhurst United Middle School. Devynn then went on to Castlemont Highschool for two years and Skyline high school where he continues his academic journey as a Skyline high school senior. After graduating, he will be heading to Contra Costa college to continue his education and sports in Football and Track.

Devynn had been through a lot of mental health struggles. However, his mental health took a difficult toll during the covid-19 pandemic quarantine. There were times where Devynn had anxiety attacks and sometimes even fell into depression due to the seclusion he was forced to endure. His Football journey felt even harder during and after quarantine. He feels it was a problem getting motivated and has had to work harder than ever before to get back to where he was during his football training before Covid-19. Quarantine took a lot out of him, but it brought pleasant and challenging moments because he had to pivot and learn how to live a new way of life without being outside. Keeping himself motivated has been the hardest challenge Devynn had to overcome throughout everything he already had going on in his life.

Devynn had been trying his best to overcome his mental struggles. Something that helped him the most was his love for music. Music was a way for him to escape everything he was dealing with around his family and personal life. Motivation had to be the biggest factor in Devynn’s life. It made him fail and succeed in different areas of what he was trying to accomplish. The biggest challenge after facing covid 19 was that he had to accept the changes that were happening around him such as wearing a mask, taking tests, and watching his health more closely. He has learned how to better take care of his mental health and control the way his emotions fluctuate in his life due to adapting to the rules that were put in place by the state. However, he also understands that there will always be work that needs to be done as you can’t give up on yourself.

His journey has been very successful as he learned how to overcome his mental health struggles. He learned to never give up and to keep pushing himself in a positive direction because he knows the sky’s the limit when you are determined to overcome a challenge. Devynn’s confidence will go up and his work ethic will be even better due to the learning and reflecting he has done. He knows it’s hard having something holding you back from succeeding, but once you overcome these challenges it makes you stronger and life gets a little easier. In Devynn’s case football will go back to being everything to him and his motivation to succeed in life. Devynn has teammates and friends that have gone through and are still going through the same things he had to endure but he knows now how to better support his peers and friends from their mental health struggles.