Julia Schwabe

The University of Michigan always has been in the sights for sophomore women's lacrosse midfielder Julia Schwabe. She decided to attend Michigan to follow in the footsteps of both her mother, who graduated from Michigan Medical School, and her brother, a current senior.

"It runs in the family," said Schwabe when asked about her love for Michigan. "A big reason why I wanted to come here was to follow in my mom's footsteps while playing a sport I love. Michigan has everything you could really ever want or ask for. Michigan is really close to heart."

Schwabe has been a big threat for Michigan on the field. She jumped right in as a freshman playing 18 games and has had an active role in all of Michigan's 13 contests so far this season -- but all of that playing time and preparation can take a toll on a body.

Chronic ankle sprains are something she has to deal with, but those just come with the game. However, during her junior year of high school, Schwabe was having a lift session on her own to prepare for the season, and she herniated a disc in the L4-L5 in her back while squatting.

While many would look at this as a major setback, Schwabe decided she wanted to take an active part in her recovery and learn how she could lower the likelihood of injuries like this happening to her in the future. This is what drove her into the path of movement science.

"I realized my passion was the human body and movement," she said. "I am just so intrigued by our potential as humans. It was just all super interesting for me to learn how my body works, but also just in general how different mobility and programs help you move."

This passion and general interest in how bodies move and work is what led her to movement science as a route to pre-med instead of traditional pre-med courses like biology or chemistry. Schwabe still plans on going to medical school but is not limiting herself on fields of study.

"I'm hoping to become a sports medicine doctor or a surgeon, but I'm still open to a lot of things like dermatology for example," she said.

It has not come easy though for Schwabe. The pre-med track is a grind for students who are not also athletes, but adding to that academic path the practice and life schedule of a Division I student-athlete is where the intensity level rises.

Time management has been a skill that is always at the forefront of her mind. Whether it be trying to figure out what classes she needs to take to graduate or forgoing spending time with her teammates on the bus to finish homework assignments.

Schwabe welcomes the opportunity to be able to compete at such a high level both athletically and academically.

"If you're not uncomfortable and you're not challenging yourself, you're not reaching your full potential and pushing yourself to achieve goals," says Schwabe "So for me, I always remind myself when it gets hard, that hard is good."

Even though she has to make sacrifices sometimes in order to achieve her goals, Schwabe feels like it is worth it in order to spend her life doing something she is passionate about.

"My passion drives me," she said. "The same way how I do extra for lacrosse because I care a lot, it's the same thing if I want to become a doctor so whatever it's going to take I'll do."

Schwabe's passion extends beyond just the classroom and lacrosse field, but to the Michigan community as well. She is a member of Team IMPACT at Michigan.

Team IMPACT is ana organization that works to match children facing various illnesses and disabilities with college sports teams in order to provide them with an unmatched experience designed to change the lives of both student-athletes and children alike.

"I love giving back and just seeing how much of a difference we can make on other people," Schwabe said.

She talked about their Team IMPACT match, Phoebe, and the impression she had on both Schwabe and the team. Even once her time with the program was done, they still keep in touch to this day despite Phoebe's graduation from the program.

Phoebe's influence on Schwabe is why she is not content keeping the program at its current level and hopes to watch it expand during her time at Michigan by getting more teams involved with Team IMPACT.

"Team IMPACT is a really great program," Schwabe said, "and I'm looking to keep going, expand here at Michigan because it's so fantastic at what it does."

She recognizes that many kids look up to them as role models due to their position as Michigan student-athletes and does not take that lightly. Schwabe views it as a two-way street and learns a lot from the kids they work with as well.

"We impact these kids so much and it's just such a back-and-forth relationship," said Schwabe. "We learn so much and have so much gratitude and then they take so much from us."

Schwabe's multi-faceted impact at Michigan is sure to leave a legacy. The sophomore has tallied 11 goals and 20 points this season all while completing a cross-campus transfer to Kinesiology, and being heavily involved in the local Michigan community.

"People think if you are coming to play a Division I sport you have to give up or aspirations of being pre-med or choose to no longer play, but you don't have to do that," Schwabe said. "If it is something you really want to do, you will find a way regardless of how challenging it is."