Nick Gumpert
Alumni Nick Gumpert recently released “Starting,” the first of four books aiming to help young adults manage their mental health.
CMU alumni Nick Gumpert recently released his first book on Oct. 1, titled “Starting.” It’s a piece that discusses mental health management tools that many college-aged students may find helpful.
Gumpert currently has a podcast called “Mental” with the mission of being an accessible resource to young adults. Gumpert also has a long history of soccer which unveils a relatable type of resilience.
Gumpert was inspired to write “Starting” when he went to a conference last year. He had heard on a podcast that suicide is a leading cause of death for people between 14-24 years old, leading him to ask a pressing question:
“Why aren’t there more resources for young adults to help them not just know about ideas, but implement techniques that can help them sooner?”
As a Grand Valley native, he believes that many young adults here can benefit from this conversation.
“Starting” explores many relevant mental health challenges and issues often faced by young college-aged adults, including taking of responsibility for one’s own story, understanding and going through emotional battles and the journey of chasing happiness.
Gumpert mentioned that his book is different from other mental health support books in that it steps away from what is known as “toxic positivity.”
“It’s the belief that you should ‘always look on the bright side’ or ‘just be happy,’ no matter how heavy, real or valid your emotions are,” Gumpert said. “Instead of helping, it shuts people down. It tells them their struggles don’t matter, their pain is inconvenient and their humanity is something to be ‘fixed’ with a smile,”
Gumpert’s senior year on the CMU Men’s Soccer team was completed in 2007. This was the first year that Men’s Soccer was ever featured at CMU.
Before that, Gumpert was the captain of his club team, as well as a member of a few other collegiate teams. He has also played professionally in Brazil.
After playing, he was head coach and Technical Director for Fire Football Club (Fire FC) from 2008-15.
“While in GJ, I helped coordinate trips for players at Fire FC to Brazil three different times, and coordinated another trip for Fire FC to Europe,” Gumpert said.
He relates his soccer and sports experience to the challenges addressed in “Starting.” The previous coach explained that soccer was a starting point on addressing skills that exceed being mentally tough.
Although he comes from a sports-centered perspective, Gumpert wants his writings to be broad and relatable to readers.
He expressed that while coaching, he taught constant focus on improvement to his players, emphasizing that this can be applied to more than just sports.
“I attained the two highest licences in coaching in the US with two different organizations, to continue my personal education and model what I preach: keep getting better, keep improving yourself, and when there’s ’not a way’ to do so, create one,” Gumpert said.
Gumpert’s podcast, “Mental,” releases monthly episodes on relevant topics to young adults. He collects topics, and then creates relevant short stories about fictional young characters to help listeners understand how to cope with given issues.
The issues covered in the podcast include feelings of isolation, dealing with debt, social media, friend groups and other challenges young adults may face.
“Starting” is constructed of many short stories that CMU students may find themselves relating to. Gumpert hopes for students to implement some of the techniques seen within its stories into their personal lives.
“I heard recently, the best books aren’t the ones you remember, the best ones are the ones that inspire you to take action. I’m confident ‘Starting’ can be that for some CMU students!” Gumpert said.
He emphasized the fact that readers should know the book aims to add tools to their toolbox and change the paths to who they become. Gumpert said that the book is not about quick fixes, but about shifting perspective and lifestyle.
“Starting” is available via print at Barnes & Noble, and Amazon for eBook and audiobook versions.