Preparing For Their Future

The 10 second-year Maryland student athletes in the inaugural Kubasik First Impact Program all gave presentations last week, demonstrating each of their 5-Year Game Plans to help them start their paths to career readiness. 

The Kubasik First Impact Program, started by Terrapin supporters Jane and Chris Kubasik, commenced in June, providing second-year student-athletes an opportunity to better plan and prepare for their futures. The official purpose of the program is to help second-year student-athletes understand the value of major selection through experiential education, exposure to careers and an opportunity to build career-ready skills. 

One of the key parts of the Kubasik program are the project presentations. The student-athletes began working on these projects in January. The 10 student-athletes have spent the school year working on a one-year educational program under the supervision of the Maryland Made staff. Over the course of the program, they have engaged in identity development exercises to discover passions and interests, and have had access to hands-on career exploration activities, such as career field trips, intern-for-a-day opportunities, and informational interviews with local and global professionals.“

The goal of the program is to ensure student athletes graduate ready to enter personally rewarding and viable careers,” said Jane Kubasik.

A key part of the program is the project presentations, helping the students take what they have learned in the first semester and through the experiences and translate that information into their own plans. 

Ten student-athletes presented, including: Anthony Petrillo (Men's Track & Field), Athlyn Drage (Gymnastics), Cliff Carty (Men's Track & Field), Emma Pegg (Women's Track & Field), Florian Huerlimann, (Men's Golf), Isaac Bunyun (Football), Leon Haughton (Football), Lindsay Bacheler (Gymnastics), Tasha Brozowski (Gymnastics), Zoe Huang (Women's Volleyball).

“The presentations not only challenge them to think about the future and life after college, but it also allows them to build confidence, public speaking experience, and tell their story outside of athletics,” said Sydney Anderson, Big Ten Diversity Fellow who works with the Kubasik program.

One of the students that presented was Isaac Bunyun, a redshirt junior on the football team and a public policy major. 

“Remembering the phrase, ‘No situation is permanent’ was something that helped me devise a 5-year game plan,” Bunyun said. “As the goal of the 5-year game plan is to guide me in my future endeavors while laying some foundation, a key thing I value is to continue being true to yourself, remembering authenticity, and relying on key mentors that have helped myself, as well as others get where we are today. I truly see myself being that sort of mentor figure to others, the same way some key individuals were to me. 

“This 5-year game plan is to devise my focus on educational and career development. The Kubasik program has given me a better insight to also develop a game plan on my life outside of the professional world. Overall, the Kubasik program has allowed me to expand beyond my future years of planning and actually put some words on paper as a guidance since ‘No situation is permanent.’”

The students’ thinking went beyond a specific career goal, and more to how to work effectively and continue to push themselves as they move through their careers. 

"My presentation helped me create a life plan after college and gain confidence in my major selection. It was also good to get to know people in the industry I want to work in later,” said Florian Huerlimann of men’s golf. 

"The process of my creating my 5-year plan allowed me to apply the professional and career developmental skills I learned throughout the Kubasik program,” said Tasha Brozowski of gymnastics. “Through this plan, I am able to look at my future and have a solid goal with supporting steps. Even though there may be obstacles within my 5 years to reach this goal, I have back up plans and helpful people to lean on so I can continue learning and growing within these 5 years and beyond. One very important thing that I learned throughout this program is that taking a step back to listen and learn about other’s experiences and perspectives can open my eyes to new ideas and have a huge influence on some of my decisions within my 5-year plan that can be of the most benefit."

“The program design and delivery went beyond pointing to specific jobs of today, and helped students develop a repeatable process for continuing to align their interests to career exploration and development over the course of their lives,” Jane Kubasik said.

Jane and Chris Kubasik, as well as the Maryland Made staff, members of the Maryland Athletics Leadership team and coaches John Phillips (men’s golf), Brett Nelligan (gymnastics) and Andrew Valmon (track & field) all attended the presentations.

“Beyond selecting a potential career path, students identified their personal values and unique strengths," said Jane Kubasik. "These character elements contributed to their success as athletes, and we were excited to see them begin to filter potential career and education opportunities with those in mind.”