Spikin' it

Volleyball, nursing and a 4.0 GPA

by Chuck Wasserstrom

Athletics and nursing school typically do not mix.

College coaches are wary of student-athletes pursuing a degree that necessitates the amount of time and dedication required in nursing school. A rigorous schedule of clinicals and simulations is unchangeable. Adding on a collegiate sport makes it a nearly impossible task.

Don't tell that to Megan Kaufman, though. She not only survived as a volleyball-playing nursing school student, she thrived in that atmosphere.

Kaufman will be receiving a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga School of Nursing in December 2021, carrying a 4.0 GPA into her final semester. A defensive specialist for the Mocs volleyball team, she finished her on-court career with 1,400 digs, the seventh-highest total in the program’s history.

"My college experience has definitely been unique," she says. "It's like two different worlds. You have two separate lives as you go about your day.

"The last two years of my didactic courses have all been with the same core group of people. Then, when I was playing volleyball, I had my 14 to 16 teammates. I would put on nursing Megan in that setting and then I would put on student-athlete Megan in the gym, just balancing the stress that comes with nursing school and the expectations that I had set for myself in volleyball."

Kaufman plays her final collegiate match against Georgia State in Maclellan Gymnasium, helping UTC to earn a 3-2 victory. During the game, Megan picked up her 1,400th career dig—the seventh student-athlete in program history to ever reach 1400 digs.

A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Kaufman knew UTC would be the right fit after visiting Chattanooga as a high school junior. She remembers the Mocs' volleyball coach, Travis Filar, tell her, "If you want to go into nursing, we're going to make it work."

"And then, as an athlete, to have the professors behind me just shows how they support their students and how they truly want to see you find success," Kaufman says. "It was such a privilege to be able to do both. It was hard, but I never once questioned what I was doing."

Nursing students and faculty know the rigors of that program, but to be a Division I athlete, you need to hone your craft year-round. Being a student-athlete means practices, weightlifting, conditioning and the actual events. Not to mention out-of-town travel.

"From a nursing perspective, you know you have commitments, but from the athlete perspective, it was a whole other job. That’s how I had to treat it, like I was going to work," Kaufman says.

"Honestly, it was strictly business for me in the fact that I knew that nursing was going to take away some of the time that I had in the gym because of conflicts and accommodations that needed to be made around me. But when I was in there, I was all in, and it was anywhere from three to four hours a day, on top of our clinical schedule and nursing classes and such."

Kaufman practices patient care during lab.

Nursing is a noble profession, and nurses talk about not being in it for the awards and accolades, the opposite of athletics. But Kaufman had the opportunity to experience the glory of being a true student-athlete this summer when she was selected to the College Sports Information Directors of America 2020-21 Academic All-America® Division I Volleyball Second Team.

"To be recognized for something like that was very humbling. Recognitions are great, but it really doesn’t give light to all the work that went behind it," she says. "I had so many professors in the School of Nursing that wanted to see me succeed and helped me navigate this crazy schedule, and all the coaches and teachers and advisors that worked to help me find success.

"The award has so little to do with me. I put in a lot of work, but I truly believe that I would not have been able to study nursing—let alone achieve what I have—had I not had the army of people supporting me."

Kaufman says she never felt sorry for herself for having too much on her plate. The time management and dedication skills learned at UTC will pay big dividends when she takes them into the nursing profession.

"I never once questioned my motives and the why behind what I do," Kaufman says. "My parents have always said, 'Find your why and use that every single day, even when things get hard.' My 'why' with nursing is very clear: It's the type of nurse that I want to become and the people that I can impact. And then my 'why' with volleyball was to be the best on the court that I can be, the best leader, the best motivator for my teammates.

"My experience here was very different than most, but I’ll always be able to say that I played four years of college volleyball and graduated with a BSN. I’m proud of how far I’ve come."

It was such a privilege to be able to do both. It was hard, but I never once questioned what I was doing."

–Megan Kaufman