Development Events Great Resource For CMU Student-Athletes

Broadening horizons, interpreting information, and learning to conceptualize abstract ideas are important ideals to be embraced when it comes to higher education.

The practical side of things – consider this to get there – is equally as critical to a well-rounded college experience.

In providing the very best educational opportunities to Central Michigan University student-athletes, Student-Athlete Services has continued its highly successful Development Events as part of The Chippewa Way.

Development Events in fall 2020 include a wide-ranging number of seminars designed to guide CMU student-athletes as they prepare to trade their maroon-and-gold uniforms for a business suit.

"When they graduate CMU with a degree, we want them to go out in the real world and possess the skills just like all the candidates they're going up against when they apply for a job," said Katie Griffin, Associate Athletic Director of Student-Athlete Services.

"Yes, you've been successful in college and now we need to make sure that you're successful in life after college, and that's where this programming really benefits our student-athletes. They may not know how to formulate a resumé or they may not know what an elevator pitch is and that's what we're helping to prepare them for."

Carrying On
The athletic department has long offered such programs for its student-athletes; the difference in 2020 – as it is in almost every walk of life – is the COVID-stimulated move to virtual from in-person seminars.

Developmental Events, with Griffin administering and Assistant Director of Student-Athlete Development Jewel Cotton coordinating, has soldiered on.

Seminar topics cover specific aspects of entering the work force, from the first impression to the job hunt to resumés/cover letters to networking to work-place etiquette.

Others are more broad, but no less important, as a student-athlete shifts focus from, say, scoring goals to channeling energy into coping with the pitfalls of the job hunt, work-place stress, and moving to a different team, this one quite possibly on the corporate level.

Common Ground
Grace Gagliardi, a senior on the CMU field hockey team, said she attended nearly every program. They all were helpful, she said, adding that the Elite Mental Game in particular piqued her interest because of the anxiety that many student-athletes feel as their performances, both in practice and in competitions, are critiqued on a daily basis.

"That was really important to me," she said. "The level of play we're at, there's a lot of pressure on us. I think a lot of people kind of just assume that athletes, they have it all together and their life is perfect. I have to be on my A game otherwise I won't see the field. That's something personally that I struggled with.

"That was really cool, not just for the support, but to see that football players are feeling the same way as the track people are," she said. "We're all athletes going through similar things; I think it was a way of bonding as student-athletes and then also just getting different perspectives on things."

Gagliardi, a sport management major and marketing minor, said she will draw on the techniques she learned while partaking in the Elite Mental Game seminar as she pursues a career, perhaps in a university athletic department.

"I feel like I can handle criticism, I can handle someone telling me that I'm doing something wrong and I need to fix it," she said. "I'm not afraid to face criticism."

Straight-up Messaging
Drew Marten, a member of the Chippewa wrestling team, said he attended five of the virtual workshops. He said it was helpful that those administering the sessions spoke frankly and in plain language about what lies ahead.

"Sometimes somebody's got to tell you straight up about the real world and you're applying for a job and you've got to educate yourself," said Marten, a graduate student with designs on medical school. "You've really got to learn how to present yourself in a more professional manner and learn real-world skills."

Student-athletes, Marten said, enjoy ready access to academic advisors, financial decisions are typically made with the help of parents, and coaches are always there to guide.

"These sessions kind of opened up the door to help us understand real world financial implications and networking," he said. "in the real world you have to know how to talk to people and make your own path. I feel like I took away a lot of those different lessons.

"For me specifically, with applying to medical schools and interviewing with medical schools, the first impression is one that (was relevant). Things like sitting up straight and presenting yourself and networking and being able to talk to different people and realizing that the person at the front desk when you check in is also interviewing you."

Long-Term Thinking
Among the many specifics that Gagliardi took away from the sessions was that networking is a highly comprehensive concept, with far-reaching consequences.

"The speaker talked about different ways to reach out to people, and to build your own personal brand," she said, adding an example. "Like, if you're a waitress and being able to talk to the people you're waiting on because you never know who has connections where.

"That was something to really think about for me: you're always branding yourself; you talk to people, the things you do, what you post on social media – it's all encompassing about who you are as a person and as an employee. It's not something that we always think about."

Nuts and Bolts
The sessions are led, Griffin said, by university personnel from departments outside of athletics as well as community members. It is the job of Cotton, herself a former CMU student-athlete, to line up presenters and coordinate the events with the ubiquitous athletics-related commitments, such as classes, practices and travel schedules.

Cotton is working now on a series of events for the spring semester, always with two important factors in mind: Relevance and practicality for Chippewa student-athletes.

"It's been a challenge," Griffin said. "Jewel's done a phenomenal job in utilizing appropriate resources to set up these events."

Marten said that not only were the events helpful, but, in his mind, they show the deep commitment to CMU Athletics' educational mission.

"If people want to put these together and invite guests and stuff like that, I just feel like it's something everybody should hopefully give their time to and take advantage of," Marten said. "I thought they were really valuable."

Major Help
Gagliardi said the Development Events were immensely helpful as they navigate the next step and life beyond collegiate athletics.

"I would 100 percent recommend it to every student-athlete," she said. "The reality is that our sport isn't going to take us into the future (except for) maybe a couple football players, maybe basketball or whatever.

"But usually once our college career is done we're done with sports and we go into the workforce. I think it's something very valuable for student-athletes to take advantage of as they look to make that transition, and it's available to anyone. I learned a lot of things even though I thought I knew everything there was to know."

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