Scholar Stories: How U-M Prepared Joyner for Her Life After Soccer
11/24/2021 12:45:00 PM | Women's Soccer, Features
Continuing the series that began in 2016-17, each Wednesday MGoBlue.com will highlight a Michigan student-athlete and their academic pursuits. These are our Scholar-Athlete Stories, presented by Absopure.
By Ainsley Carpenter
One of the many struggles for a new college student is learning to balance a heavier academic workload with the other pressures of becoming an independent adult. For student-athletes, that adjustment process is made even more difficult by daily workouts, practices and team meetings -- not to mention weekly travel all over the country.
Janiece Joyner, senior defender for the University of Michigan women's soccer team, knows the pressures of a student-athlete better than anyone. In addition to balancing the time commitment of an NCAA Division I athlete with the rigors of Michigan's computer science and engineering major, she has embraced the extra responsibility of serving as team captain for a squad that is currently making a run through the NCAA tournament.
As her time as an undergrad comes to a close, Joyner also has dealt firsthand with a whole new beast: the pressure of the job search in an incredibly competitive and uncertain market.
For many students, the path to employment begins with various internships. Joyner interned with Amazon this past summer and was offered a full-time role as a software development engineer after her pending graduation this May.
Her journey to this moment began back in high school, when she had just started to look at colleges with a solid plan in mind for her future.
"I definitely wanted to continue playing sports, but I also value education a lot," she said, "so I wanted to go to a school where I could be very successful at both without having to sacrifice one for the other."
Many institutions did not meet this criteria in Joyner's estimation. Some went so far as to tell her "you're going to major in soccer and that's it," she recalled.
However, Michigan passed her test with flying colors. Joyner was able to talk to team coaches and academic advisors during her official visit to the school, which was one of the main factors that drew her in.
"I knew that I wanted to do engineering and that I also wanted to be able to play soccer at a high level, and to me it seemed like they had a very clear plan for me," Joyner said. "It was pretty clear that I'd be able to take on some rigorous courses at U-M."
She believes the helpful Academic Success Program staff and the extensive academic resources Michigan has available to its student-athletes made that combination possible.
"They are definitely very supportive and offer so many resources to their student-athletes that I don't think we even get the chance to use them all," she said. "It's nice to have an academic advisor outside of the college that you're enrolled in to help keep you on top of managing requirements so that you can be eligible to play and also to graduate one day."
Joyner calls the rigor of her engineering program "an experience in itself," -- U.S. News and World Report ranks Michigan engineering No. 7 on its list of best engineering schools, and No. 5 for her specific computer engineering major -- but adds that a welcoming environment eased her path to success.
"It's more of a collaborative environment instead of just strictly competitive; everybody is pretty willing to help each other succeed," Joyner said.
She found the same support in her teammates and coaches, who she said helped her balance the immense workload of a high-achieving student-athlete.
"Just leaning on your peers and your coaches helps you to work with them and come up with plans so you can be successful in the classroom and on the field," Joyner said. "We push each other to be the best we can be. Everybody wants to be on top together."
The atmosphere played a major part in helping her land her future position at Amazon. In order to see if a full-time role at the company would be a good match, Joyner had to stay later into the summer of 2021 than originally intended. This meant missing two weeks of crucial preseason training with her team.
"The coaching staff was extremely supportive and understood that I was taking steps to set up my future for life after sports," she said. "I had the opportunity to see my internship through and really focus on that without extreme pressure to get back. They welcomed me back with open arms and congratulated me on everything, which was so nice."
Stepping back onto the soccer field in the fall also meant stepping into her new role as team captain. However, bad luck with injuries forced Joyner to find ways to lead her squad from the sidelines.
"As far as team captain goes, my job has just been keeping everyone positive and driven to accomplish the goals we have for the team and we have for each other throughout the season," she said. "We are anticipating a long run, so we need some good mental endurance."
