Being a student-athlete encompasses more than just the sport itself.

It is about setting priorities: Practice over class? Assignments over lifting?

Most student-athletes know that these questions never get fully resolved. They also never disappear, even as a student nears graduation. The closer it gets, the more questions will come up. Questions about the future life – not only concerning the academic life but also the sportive one.

At times like these, it can be good to have a compass. A compass to know in which direction to go. That is why the academic team at Queens University of Charlotte has launched a new initiative this semester – a new student-athlete development model called the R.I.S.E. Academy.

R.I.S.E. stands for Responsibility, Identity, Service, and Empowerment. The goal is to help student-athletes develop holistically to be prepared to lead in their postgraduate life. In other words, to provide a compass.

Just like a compass has four directions – north, south, east, and west – the R.I.S.E. Academy has four pillars. "We use the four pillars – responsibility, identity, service, and empowerment – as a kind of foundation for everything we build on. We make sure that whatever we do, it has to fall within at least one of those four pillars," said Taylor Day, the athletic academic support coordinator at Queens.

Day says that they did not choose the pillars randomly, but they point out the growth and development of student-athletes. The program is open to any student-athletes enrolled at Queens. It includes educational workshops and events focused on career, skill, and personal development.

Tiffany Britten is the director of athletic academic success at Queens and came up with the idea of the R.I.S.E. Academy. "I always had the vision of not only providing academic support but also developing skills that student-athletes need to thrive after graduation", says Britten.

Building up skills beyond college and sports is more important than it seems. Day put those ideas into practice. "The focus for student-athletes is to perform well in their sport. The question is always: How can they be the best athlete that they can? But most athletes are not prepared for what is to come with life after sport and when they graduate," she says.
 
Students must figure out who they are outside of their sport to prepare for graduation. The workshops and events help them build an identity that is not only attached to their sport. "Yes, they are a student but yes, they are also an athlete – and those are two parts of their identity. And before they were a student or an athlete, they were human beings. So how can we make sure that the human being is okay – that is always the question," says Day.

Through those workshops, students learn important skills to thrive not only in college life but also wherever their journey takes them outside of Queens. The Royal Rally event on August 24, 2024 was the first event organized by the R.I.S.E. Academy. "The goal was to create a sense of belonging, to welcome the student-athletes on campus at the beginning of the semester, and to put faces to names," says Day. They hope to build a long-lasting community outside of the athletic program, especially on a smaller campus like Queens University of Charlotte.

On September 16, 2024, R.I.S.E. hosted a workshop focused on balancing responsibilities. The question about priorities – practice over class or assignments over lifting – was discussed. "It was good to schedule that event at the beginning of the semester because we realized that the student-athletes started to feel the pressure of being a college student and an athlete simultaneously," says Day. When a student feels overwhelmed, it can be beneficial to provide a compass to help define ways that they might determine best practices – to know which direction one needs to go.

Three weeks later, on October 7, they hosted another workshop focused on optimizing a student's performance and strategies for enhancing mental acuity. Eddie O'Connor, the new sports psychologist at Queens, shared his thoughts about mental health. "We hear a lot that you need to stay positive and that you need to have a positive mindset. But we also have to normalize the fact that we also go through very tough, negative emotions – and it is not always the best strategy to just say 'okay, let's just be positive'," says Day. It is mostly all about mindset and how we deal with these challenges while managing the rollercoaster of emotions we might experience.

The last workshop of this semester was on November 4 and focused on building and developing your personal brand to maximize your NIL, or name, image, and likeness. "The personal brand relates to internships, jobs, and networking opportunities and is therefore very important for the future career of student-athletes," says Day.

"We want to make sure that what we are offering and how we are offering it, is what the student athletes want," says Day. The workshops continue to focus on those four pillars – responsibility, identity, service, and empowerment. While the vision does not always align with reality, in this case, student-athletes have been pleased with their experience in the R.I.S.E. workshops.
 
Jay Bonilla is a freshman on the track and field team and majoring in sports management at Queens. "The second workshop with Eddie O'Connor was very helpful for me as I just started college life and was not sure where this journey would take me", says Bonilla. Coming from Virginia, he has also benefited from the first workshop about balancing responsibilities and identifying priorities. "I have a lot on my plate and there were some excellent takeaways of how I can deal with all the things I have and not get too overwhelmed at the same time," he says.

Michel Feldmann, a junior on the men's soccer team, is from Germany and also participated in the R.I.S.E. workshops. "These are not events when you sit down and listen to somebody talking a lecture, but it is interactive – people want to talk and learn from each other," he says. In this type of learning environment, everyone is willing to add valuable thoughts and ideas. "We are all in the same boat – everyone there is a student-athlete – and it is great to share thoughts and experiences with people who are going through similar things as you are – but approach these in a different kind of way," says Feldmann.

This idea is not limited to college life but it is also essential in work life. "Especially in the business world, you will get confronted with all kinds of challenges which are outside of athletics, and it is great to learn how to deal with these kinds of situations and difficulties in life," shared Feldmann.

As Day steers the R.I.S.E. workshops towards the needs and interests of student-athletes, she considers what is best for them in terms of the four pillars, responsibility, identity, service, and empowerment, as well as for career, skill, and personal development. In this way, student-athletes feel more prepared about what is to come in their future – how they can be guided by the compass that they now have.

The workshops teach real-life lessons which are beneficial for everyone. "I think the R.I.S.E. workshops are good for everybody, it does not have to be for student-athletes only," says Bonilla. Michel Feldmann has a slightly different opinion about that: "In terms of leadership and engagement, it could be open up to everyone. However, the environment with student-athletes only is different because everyone has the feeling that we are all very similar in terms of thinking."

Do you now think you also could need a compass that helps guide you to greater success in college and beyond?

Student-athletes can participate in the R.I.S.E. Academy workshops and events for free. Day says it is very simple, so students do not have additional barriers to participate. Feldmann appreciates that fact. "They do not want to create an environment where we feel obligated to go – there is no pressure. That is why, for me, it is something to look forward to every time."