How much can you fit into your day? If you're Yulia Groysman, one of our MCH/MPH students, the answer is an amazing amount! Yulia is a student athlete, participating in swimming, one of the most demanding college sports. It takes tremendous discipline to commit to daily swim practice while taking a full load of graduate school credits each semester.
Yulia has a unique perspective, being both a graduate student and a student athlete on GWU’s swim team. She is completing her MPH degree in a gap year before medical school, pursuing our accelerated, one-year MCH program. I had the opportunity to interview her about her experiences as a swimmer and how that has shaped her graduate education in Maternal and Child Health.
Yulia was born in Russia and moved to the United States when she was eight years old, where she lived in Seattle, Washington for the remainder of her childhood. She came from a big sports family, with her father being a cycling coach, and her parents wanted her to choose a sport to play so she could stay active. She chose both swimming and tennis, but eventually stuck to swimming because she felt she had a major language barrier at that time in her life. She was more comfortable swimming because she knew she wouldn’t have to talk as much in the pool. Yulia has been enthusiastic about swimming ever since she started the sport, and has been swimming competitively since the age of ten.
Yulia attended Northwestern University for her undergraduate education, where she was on the pre-medical track and majored in neuroscience with a minor in statistics. When choosing where to pursue her master’s degree, she considered schools such as UC Davis and San Diego State University, but was ultimately drawn to GWU because there was a big student athlete community at the graduate level. She is grateful that the swim team has fostered a great community, including supportive teammates and coaches. Below is a portion of the interview with Yulia:
Ranjani: What do you enjoy most about being a student athlete?
Yulia: I love the team aspect and people. I feel like I have grown so close to my team in such a short time, and can rely on them for anything. My team is essentially another family.
Ranjani: Tell me more about your team. What does your daily routine look like?
Yulia: Our team consists of 50 total women and men and we train mainly at the Smith Center, but sometimes at the St. James Center as well. Practice is usually every morning besides Sunday and every afternoon besides Saturday. Under NCAA rules, college students cannot train or work out for more than 20 hours a week. If practice happens to conflict with class, then you can practice outside independently, so there is a lot of flexibility and school always comes first.
Ranjani: What are some strengths you have gained from becoming a swimmer?
Yulia: I feel like I have developed really good interpersonal skills, and am more comfortable talking to people and motivating those around me. Because I feel so connected to my teammates, I empathize with them. Also, time management has been a huge part of balancing school and swimming. My mental strength has improved because there have been many situations where I have had to push myself at practice, then complete schoolwork, and still have time for a social life. My CE project, working with Dr. Melissa Napolitano, is actually about mental health in student athletes because this topic has always interested me.
Ranjani: What do you think is the most unique thing about being a student in MCH and also a swimming athlete?
Yulia: Since classes are very community-based, I am always pulling from my experiences on the swim team and applying that to new concepts I learn in class. For example, I usually think about my swim team and how that intersects with community support of women and children in my MCH studies.
Ranjani: What kind of skills are you learning as a student athlete and graduate student that you think you will carry to your public health career?
Yulia: Definitely time management is the first thing that comes to mind. I also believe I have been equipped with the ability to work with different types of people because I have been exposed to that on my swim team. I am around my teammates all the time, which has enabled me to adjust to different personality types.
Ranjani: Thank you for giving me the opportunity to chat with you!