By Brittany Steadman
Although the end of the Olympics means life can get back to normal, for many it is a bittersweet ending.
Many student interns who participated in the game are finding it difficult to return to school after the Olympic experience.
For Amy Green, 25, a senior from Oklahoma City majoring in Public Relations, the Olympics was a once in a lifetime opportunity.
“The Olympic experience really changed my life,” Green said.
Green worked for International Sports Broadcasting for six weeks during the Olympics and really enjoyed the experience.
“I made a lot of really great friends and saw some incredible things. It”s hard to go back to school after being in that environment,” Green said.
Green finished working for the Olympics on Tuesday and was disappointed to see the Olympics end.
“It was really sad to see how quiet and dead Olympic Square was on Monday and Tuesday,” Green said.
Lyn Steadman, 21, a junior from Boise majoring in political science also worked for International Sports Broadcasting and jokes that she is suffering from post-Olympic depression.
“The whole Olympic atmosphere was so incredible. It was like a big party all the time,” Steadman said.
Steadman was able to meet athletes and other famous people and see many events the games offered.
Sitting in the library for the first time in a month, Steadman finds it hard to not think about the friends she made and the experiences she had.
“One of the best friends I made at the Olympics is from Australia and left Salt Lake today,” Steadman said.
Looking wistful Steadman admits she will probably never see him again.
“I guess that”s a good thing about email, at least I can still email all my friends,” Steadman said.
Going back to school hasn”t helped many of the students either.
“I got really behind in my classes and now I have to take midterms and write essays and start block classes,” Steadman said.
Although many students who helped in the Olympics are sad, Dr. David Weight, a professor of Psychology, said what the students are going through is common.
“There is no such thing as post-Olympic depression in our diagnostic categories but there is such a thing as adjustment disorders,” Weight said.
Weight said that what students can be experiencing is grief reactions as a result of life changing experiences.
“The amount of grief or loss that a person experiences depends on how much they identify with the event they participated in,” Weight said.
Weight said that having a sense of loss or grief is a normal reaction to an event like the Olympics.
“It”s something that has been building up for many years and people have been preparing for it for a long time, there is a natural let down when it is over,” Weight said.
Weight said that the most common symptoms of adjustments after an event has taken place is mood swings.
“There shouldn”t be full blown depression unless the person has identified so strongly with the Olympics that it takes over their own identity.”
Weight said the solution for people like Green and Steadman who are sad that Olympics is over is time and a listening ear.
“It helps when people can talk with others and process their disappointments and their experiences. Looking at memorabilia and replaying tapes also helps people make the readjustment,” Weight said.
Weight said that the hardest part for students might not be the fact that the Olympics are over but rather the fact that they have to go back to school.
“Students are having to face reality and get back into the drudgery of school after having such a great experience,” Weight said.
Although Green and Steadman are sad the Olympics are over, they both agree that the memories they have will last forever even though the Olympics in Utah cannot.
