By Jadyn Zdanavage
In early May, University of Michigan ice hockey rising junior Garrett Schifsky had the privilege to attend the Graham Family Athletic Career Center’s (formerly the Michigan Athletics Career Center) Miami Career Venture. Along with 11 other student-athletes, Schifsky was able to connect and network with Michigan alumni while creating lifelong bonds with his fellow student-athletes on the trip.
A Week in the Sunshine State
With an entire week in Florida, the student-athletes on the Miami Career Venture were able to visit a wide variety of companies, ranging from sports and entertainment to real estate and aviation. They even attended F1 races and engaged in team-building activities like mini golf.
For Schifsky, the highlight came when the group visited the Florida Panthers facility in Sunrise. Panthers CEO Matt Caldwell gave the student-athletes a tour of their facility and shared insights he learned since taking over the organization in 2014. Schifsky credited Caldwell’s approach of implementing new core values into the organization as one of the reasons for the Panthers’ turnaround. Just last month, the Panthers won their second straight Stanley Cup, with Michigan’s own Mackie Samoskevich getting his name etched on Lord Stanley.
Talking with alumni like Caldwell made Schifsky realize that the core values companies implement are attributes he already practices daily as an elite athlete. Discipline, sacrifice, and time management are characteristics necessary for success in the workplace, but athletes like Schifsky already have them cultivated. This provides a window of confidence when it comes to the time to apply for jobs and internships.
“It’s eye-opening, just seeing the real world from a different perspective than a sport. It’s pretty cool to see how we athletes already do everything that the real world is doing and have those core values instilled in us,” Schifsky said.
An Opportunity to Connect
What’s unique about the Career Ventures is the opportunity to meet student-athletes from different sports. As the only individual on the hockey team on the Miami trip, Schifsky developed friendships with athletes across a wide variety of teams — dance, volleyball, cheer, field hockey, football, wrestling and golf.
“You get to know them on a whole different level than what you would see on campus,” Schifsky said. “So that was really cool.”
Not only was Schifsky able to connect with his fellow student-athletes, but he was also able to form meaningful relationships with the Michigan alumni and company employees he met on the trip. The people he had the privilege of meeting were excited to engage with Schifsky and the group, eager to share about their upbringing and journey. He got to “hear all their stories, where they came from, how they went through the University, what they did, and some of their struggles through the business side of things.” Getting to have extensive conversations with alumni across different companies gave Schifsky the chance to understand that everyone’s journey in the workplace is unique. He was also able to grasp the individual attributes that make employees successful, no matter their profession.
Getting to See the Whole Picture
Aside from hockey, Schifsky understands the importance of making strong connections, and he wants to prioritize building strong relationships. After he is done playing hockey at the professional level, Schifsky aspires to be a strength coach for hockey-specific movements. Studying applied exercise science in the School of Kinesiology, Schifsky gets many opportunities to engage with the medical and hospital side of exercise science. However, he praises the Miami Career Venture for opening his eyes to the business side of his interests.
