By Alex Black, MSW 

The transition from undergrad to graduate school can be exciting as you start to focus on a curated skill set that will shape your future career path, but can also become challenging for various reasons, especially as a student-athlete. It is important to acknowledge that everyone has their own journey. Some of the changes that occur during the transition may be unanticipated and significant. Being aware of these changes as potential stressors can be helpful in preparing for, adapting and coping with them as they appear. 

Graduate school schedules could potentially include internships or research, in addition to classes, homework, continuous training, traveling, and competing as an athlete. Student-athletes may be required to make adjustments and begin exploring options to discover what works best for them to manage their time and responsibilities. They will be challenged to become more self-aware and move with intentionality. Thus, the importance of establishing a support system you can rely on, and budgeting time to accommodate for this new extension of work life.

Projected Adjustments:

Environment. The culture of professional schools can be more intense than what you experienced in undergrad. The environment that you will be spending the majority of your learning time in is significant, having the potential to influence your thoughts, feelings and behaviors.  

Expectations. The responsibilities of graduate students are extensive. Fortunately, this experience will provide you with more opportunities to be mentored. Be prepared for your mentors to challenge you and hold you accountable. Additionally, the expectations set by yourself, professors, peers and employers will shift. Having conversations to create shared understanding about goals and expectations can help make your experience less stressful and more productive. Goals are essential to productivity, maximize on the opportunity to utilize and learn skills on goal setting.

Class structures. The amount of time that you are in class and the number of days that you have class may change drastically. The class sessions are typically longer, and the class sizes are often smaller depending on the amount of students in your program and/or cohort. Smaller class sizes enhance your ability to develop fruitful relationships with professors. Larger class sizes could provide students with the opportunity to network with classmates. Take advantage of the time and class sizes to create connections with your instructors and peers, and ask for help when you may need it. 

Social Norms. The schedules of graduate students are typically demanding and fluctuate often. As a result, some students may be less likely to engage in social activities and it might become harder to communicate with people outside of graduate school – don’t take it personally! It can still be helpful to try to connect with others outside of your sport to broaden your network.

Relationships. The relationship with school itself has the potential to change. Moreover, relationships between peers, professors, advisors, administrators, among others will shift. You will have the opportunity to determine and control the depth of each relationship you develop. 

Hannah George, Softball

Time Management. Student schedules will vary, but the demand of graduate school is definitely different from undergrad. While you still have a lot to balance, the good news is that you may find that you actually have more time to yourself depending on the length and format of the program.

Self-Motivation. The journey of completing an advanced degree has the potential to become lonely and overwhelming. You may find yourself suffering from imposter syndrome, but know that experiencing self-doubt is extremely common, especially among graduate students. You are not alone. You may also find increased motivation in a graduate program as you are now able to focus on courses and subjects that excite you. 

Student to Expert. You may feel challenged with discovering your specialty in graduate school. Throughout your time in the program, you will be tasked with assessing, understanding, and applying material to your practice. While it can feel stressful at times, it is also great practice preparing you for life after receiving your degrees. 

Just knowing and anticipating potential challenges can be helpful in preparing to cope, but there are also specific actions that can be beneficial during the transition.  

Suggestions

Do your research. Become curious, ask questions and move with intention. Look into connecting with individuals that have similar interests, experiences, goals and values. There may be other former or current student-athletes in your program as well. Try putting some effort into your experience and start to build your network both socially and professionally.

Advocate for yourself. You know your needs and wants. Become vocal and take control of your journey. Ask for help and communicate. You’re the expert on yourself.

Brad Robbins, Football

Cherish relationships with peers. Peers and classmates might have similar values, goals and intentions. The relationships developed have the potential to be more genuine and have more substance. They also may be your future colleagues or who you reach out to for professional help in the future. Everyone is there for one shared reason, which is to receive a degree and become an “expert” in their particular field. 

Build your own community. Graduate school requires you to become more intentional with building relationships. Moreover, many students are in different periods of their lives, so external responsibilities vary. Join a student organization that piques your interest and/or connect with faculty that have similar interests as you and can serve as mentors. 

Constantly reflect. Reflection is a great tool for growth and development. It provides you with the opportunity to gain understanding and learn more about yourself. 

While like any transition, the transition from undergrad to graduate school has the potential to be stressful, there is so much opportunity for growth and skill development. Making your well-being a priority as much as your academic and athletic pursuits will continue to be important through the transition and beyond.

Support & Resources

Athletic Counseling

Michigan Athletics Career Center (MACC)

Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS)

Student athlete groups (Athlete Ally, Women Uplifting Women, Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), Intercollegiate Athlete Network (IAN), Athletes in Action)

Maize Pages (Clubs & Student Orgs)

Leadership Development

About the Author

Alex Black is an MSW Intern for the U-M Athletic Counseling Team. He is originally from Los Angeles, CA, where he grew up playing basketball, baseball and football. Alex graduated from Morehouse College in 2020 with a BA in Psychology and a minor in Business Administration. After graduating, he joined the Alliance of Social Workers in Sport (ASWIS) as an intern and received his Sport Social Work Certification, during which time he interned with the LA Dodgers Foundation. He completed his MSW from U-M in December of 2022. 

By Rachel Amity, LMSW, Athletes Connected Assistant Director 

You got into college and you’re going to be a student-athlete. What an accomplishment! Many people are excited to make the transition to college and collegiate athletics, but it can also be nerve-wracking. This transition comes with many exciting opportunities such as the chance to work toward athletic and academic or career goals, develop new relationships, and increase freedom and independence. People are coming to college from different families, cultures, cities, states, and countries, school systems, and team and coaching styles, so everyone’s experience will be different, but there are some common stressors that student-athletes may face during this transition period. Being aware of these stressors and preparing for them can make things more manageable.  

For many, the demands and expectations increase in multiple areas of life. Often, there are increased athletic demands, whether that’s an expectation of improved performance and/or increased time dedicated to training and competition. There are also often higher academic demands with college courses. Sometimes, social commitments also increase as you begin to develop more relationships. These are all incredible opportunities to grow or to set new goals, and it may take additional work, time, and tools to learn how to balance and respond to these different obligations.

Gabby Wilson, Women’s Gymnastics, senior

Some people find connections with people quickly, whether it’s through living in the dorms, teammates, or in classes. Some people may feel homesick after moving away. This can happen even if we feel like we are making new friends and building relationships in this new place. However, homesickness typically happens when we leave a well-developed social network and have some trouble adapting. Homesickness may include feelings of loneliness, sadness or emotional distress, and spending a lot of time thinking about home (or wherever/whoever is part of that social network). It is extremely common to experience some challenges in the first couple of months away from home, especially in the first 2-6 weeks.

Research suggests that if we can take that time to figure out what resources and tools will work for us to manage these different emotions and experiences, we may be more likely to adjust successfully for the long-term. Focusing on the first six weeks can often feel like a more manageable timeframe than the rest of the semester or rest of the year.

If you’re noticing some homesickness or other challenges adjusting to college, here are some quick ideas about coping strategies:

• Begin creating your new social network. Spend time with teammates outside of practice, study with classmates outside of class, or join a club.
• Journal or meditate. All Big Ten athletes get the Calm App and all U-M students get SilverCloud for free!
• Without going home or having those people visit, is there anything you can bring or recreate that may help you feel more connected to your network back home? This could include bringing certain items with you to college or having someone mail you a care package, cooking a meal, or even listening to specific music or sounds that remind you of home.

If I could give my younger self advice it would be to allow those around you, especially your teammates, to understand what you are going through because that support can be so helpful. – Kayla Ehrlich, Rowing, 5th year

Remember, some stress or nerves about coming to a new place are normal. However, if you are experiencing homesickness or feel like you are having difficulty adjusting to college to the extent that you are experiencing significant distress or some aspect(s) of your daily life is impaired, consider reaching out for assistance from Athletic Counseling or another professional.

Many athletes come into college with “athlete” as a crucial part of who they are — a foundational part of their identity. Quite a few athletes who are playing at this caliber have an experience of being a standout athlete at the previous level. That’s part of what got you here, and is often part of what has helped solidify “athlete” as part of your identity. However, many of your teammates have likely had similar experiences. Because of this, sometimes the big fish in a big pond phenomenon occurs, meaning a star player or a starter comes onto a team of other former starters without enough spots for everyone to keep filling that role. Or, maybe you got great grades in high school and find that you’re coming to a school full of other people who also excel in school. This can be incredibly challenging and can feel like all of a sudden we don’t know exactly who we are or what our role on the team or in the classroom is. You’re still an athlete, still a student, but sometimes we need to make adjustments. Luckily, college is often the perfect place to explore your interests and your identity.
Check out this video about how former U-M Women’s Lacrosse player Mira navigated her transition to college.

Kayla Ehrlich, Rowing, 5th year

As you start to figure out how you fit and what’s important to you in this new place, think about exploring and developing your identity beyond being an athlete. You’ll probably hear about being more than an athlete throughout your time as an athlete. A simple statement in some ways, but this can make a huge difference as you go through any variety of transition periods. If you have some level of confidence or commitment to other areas of who you are outside of athletics, not everything hinges on how much or how well you play.

RESOURCES

You have access to resources and opportunities in college that you may not have such easy access to again. I know the idea of spending your already very limited free time doing more things can be unappealing at times, but consider taking advantage of all the university has to offer. Some of these resources include:

• Clubs and student organizations
• Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS)
• Athletic Counseling
• Trotter Multicultural Center
• Spectrum Center
• MACC
• Leadership Development
• Student-athlete groups (Athlete Ally, Women Uplifting Women, SAAC, IAN, WAR, Athletes in Action)
• University Musical Society

About the Author
Rachel Amity is the Assistant Director of the Athletes Connected program and a member of the U-M Athletic Counseling Team. Previously, she worked as the MSW intern with the athletic department. Rachel is originally from Corvallis, Oregon, where she grew up playing soccer, volleyball, and lacrosse. She graduated from Lewis & Clark College with a Bachelor’s in Psychology, where she also worked as a student athletic trainer.

By Eliza Beird, MSW Intern

College breaks can already be a complicated planning process for students. Trying to balance jobs, family, and finances, student-athletes have to consider additional factors such as how and where to train, going on training trips, and competitions, which can lead to increased stress, excitement, or both. On top of the training considerations that breaks pose for student-athletes, there is also the more global challenge of navigating the complexities that exist for everyone with the concept of going, or being unable to go home.

Society has pushed the idea that home is often a “metaphor for ease and comfort” (Kirsch, 2021). The predictable drawing of a triangle, a square, a couple small windows, and a door — simple and uncomplicated (Kirsch, 2021). For some, going home is a place of safety and rest, of comfort and support. The fact of the matter is, however, that home is not always this simple picture. It can be complicated, messy, and can elicit strikingly different emotions for many. Home can be really great or really hard, or it might not even be possible to go home.

Individuals may face a variety of challenges that make the concept of home hard such as:

• Strained/unhealthy family dynamics
• Grief and loss
• Increased challenges with mental health
• Heightened feelings of loneliness
• Financial insecurity
• Excessive criticism, high levels of control, lack of empathy, and manipulation
• Inability to go home due to being an international student, or practice/competition schedule
• Homelessness
• Abusive/unsafe environment
• Substance use/abuse
• Unsupportive LGBTQ+ environment
• Additional extenuating circumstances

Whether you are excited for, conflicted about, or unable to go home for this upcoming break, you are not alone.

Wherever you fall on the spectrum, there are opportunities to plan for however you’re spending your break or whatever home looks like for you. Because of the varying challenges that may come with navigating school breaks, handling and managing time off is not always uniform. Whatever you may be feeling with the approach of break, and whatever the circumstances, we encourage all to plan ahead in order to prioritize well-being and safety. This planning process could be anything from acknowledging how you feel about the upcoming break to setting boundaries with a caregiver/guardian before going home, to getting a job or taking classes over the summer in Ann Arbor. It could be a trip with peers, asking to go home with a teammate, or modifying the amount of break spent at home. Whatever your plans may be, if you find yourself having concerns, consider the ideas outlined below to start thinking about ways to make your environment as safe as possible for your physical and mental well-being.

By mapping out resources and recruiting support systems, it allows for quick action in stressful situations. Even just identifying the options available to us may give peace of mind regardless of whether we’re heading home or staying on campus.

Steps to Consider while Creating an Action Plan for School Breaks:

Look for signals. Are there any indicators that a situation is, or might become, unhelpful or unsafe? These can be specific conversation topics, a particular behavior from yourself or a family member, the presence of substances, a certain mood, visits from others and so much more. These situations or triggers can impact reactions, and sometimes our reactions can impact the event. When a thought, feeling, or behavior is unhelpful to us, is there anything we can do to notice, and change it? Oftentimes, we do not have the opportunity to change the situation that may be causing stress, anxiety, or other overwhelming emotions. However, if we can practice identifying when a scenario leads to thoughts and feelings that are not useful, we can start to control the things we can change, such as our actions and responses. To learn more and practice this, check out this video: Identifying and Reframing Negative Thoughts

Identify tools you already have. If you know you are going back to a challenging environment or begin to notice some of your signals that something around isn’t helpful, what skills or tools do you have to manage this? What is in your control? Do you have activities that can help bring down emotions and/or provide distraction such as exercising, reading, going for a walk, or hanging out with friends? Do you have any coping mechanisms that might help you regulate your feelings? Sometimes by looking for distractions or utilizing skills we already have, we can better manage our own thoughts/emotions to help keep ourselves safe, respond effectively, and create a more helpful environment. (Here are some you could try if you need ideas: Athletes Connected “Skills and Strategies” & The 10 Second Breath).

Identify support systems and community resources around you. Utilizing people can be helpful for both a distraction tactic and active or moral support. Maybe you have siblings, friends, extended family members, or other trusted confidants in your surrounding community that could serve as an escape or support during conflicts or troubling times. These support networks may provide a way to create space between yourself and others or situations that are difficult to navigate, or they may simply offer helpful distractions. If you don’t have anyone nearby, are there other people you can reach out to via phone, FaceTime, Zoom, etc.? Even if they cannot remove you from a particular circumstance, they may be able to serve as a distraction from the stress/tension, and offer connection and support.

It may also be beneficial to locate and identify resources in your community that could aid and offer support. This could be community mental health organizations, area crisis numbers, recreational leagues, domestic violence shelters, outreach support programs, local mental health professionals, various clubs or social organizations. These resources could also be helpful in building and utilizing a social network while you’re away from home if you’re unable to go back. By mapping out resources and recruiting support systems, it allows for quick action in stressful situations. Even just identifying the options available to us may give peace of mind regardless of whether we’re heading home or staying on campus.

If you are concerned about or are having difficulty navigating breaks from school, reach out to the Athletic Counseling Team or other professionals who can assist in processing feelings, building skills, and identifying resources.

OTHER RESOURCES:

LGBTQ+

Being part of the LGBTQ+ community comes with its own unique challenges that may differ from other experiences when visiting home. For more resources, information, and advice for this particular situation, please visit: Spectrum Center “A Guide for Going Home for Break”

International Students

As an international student, there might not be an opportunity to go home over school breaks due to a variety of reasons. This particular situation can bring forward unique feelings and stressors that others may not fully understand. For insight and tips for this situation, listen to this Podcast: U-M CAPS “International Students and Managing the Winter Break”

Even More Resources and Information:

Information on Student Homelessness

U-M CAPS “Holiday Disruptions”

U-M CAPS Podcast “Managing the Holiday Vibe” 

About the Author
Eliza Beird is an MSW Intern for the U-M Athletic Counseling Team. She graduated from Hope College in 2019 with a BA in Exercise Science, during which time she was a member of their women’s soccer team and began her interest in student-athlete mental health. After graduating from Hope, she interned with the United Stated Olympic and Paralympic Committee in Chula Vista, CA. She is currently pursuing her MSW at U-M.

Sources:

Kekauoha, A. (2020, April 16). How to cope with being home again. Stanford News. https://news.stanford.edu/2020/04/16/how-to-cope-with-being-home-again/

Kirsh, M. (2021, March 3). What is home? The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/03/at-home/what-is-home.html

University of Michigan CAPS. (n.d). Holiday disruptions. Student Life Counseling and Psychological Services. https://caps.umich.edu/article/holiday-disruptions