School of Nursing graduate an academic and athletic star

Athletics and nursing school typically do not mix.

College coaches are wary of student-athletes pursuing a degree requiring the time and dedication needed in nursing school where 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. She not only survived as a volleyball-playing nursing school student, she thrived in that atmosphere.

Kaufman will be receiving her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga on  Saturday, Dec. 11. She carried a 4.0 GPA into her final days as an undergraduate.

“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,” she said.

Nursing has always been in Kaufman’s blood, so to speak. Her mom, Shelley, is a cardiac nurse, while her grandmother, Patricia Widlowski, is a retired nurse.

“To have my mom and grandma be able to give me their advice and their work experience is priceless,” Kaufman said. “I don’t think our family members can bear to sit at a dinner table with us just because of the stories and the patients and the impact that all of the people that we’ve cared for have made on us.”

Volleyball is in her blood, too. Kaufman was a four-year varsity starter in high school, and the Cincinnati, Ohio, native knew she wanted to continue to play in college despite the major she was pursuing.

She realized UTC would be the right fit for her after visiting Chattanooga as a high school junior. She recalled a conversation she had on her recruiting visit with the Mocs’ volleyball coach Travis Filar, who told 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 said. “It was such a privilege to be able to do both. It was hard, but I never once questioned what I was doing.”

During her time with with Mocs volleyball team, she finished her on-court career with 1,400 digs, the seventh-highest total in program history.

Nursing students and faculty know the rigors of the 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 explained.

“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 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 as she takes them into her nursing.

“I never once questioned my motives and the why behind what I do,” she explained. “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.”

Nurses talk about not going into their profession for awards and accolades, which can sometimes be the polar opposite of athletics. But Kaufman had the opportunity to experience the glory of being a true student-athlete 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 said. “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.”

That support system won’t be too far out of reach when Kaufman begins her professional career. She will remain in Chattanooga, having accepted a position with CHI Memorial Hospital’s critical care residency for the cardiovascular intensive care unit.

“I’m very eager, excited and anxious to begin,” Kaufman said. “The fact that it’s going to be in town and in a place that I precepted as a student and that I was able to go to for clinical is really exciting. To be able to see faces that I know is huge as you go to start your career.”