Sophie Isom

On the foundation of accountability and ownership, graduate student Sophie Isom of the University of Michigan women's track and field team strives for her best in every aspect of student-athlete life.

Following in her parents' footsteps, Isom started running competitive track as a freshman in high school.

"I was always fast as a kid and both my parents did track in high school, it's kind of a thing you do," she said. "I ended up being pretty fast and then I kind of just wanted to see how far I could take it. It just kind of grew to me being lucky enough to take it all the way through college."

To the Isom family, education is extremely highly valued. With Sophie's mother earning her Master of Business Administration at Cornell and her father earning his MBA from Michigan, Sophie was extremely motivated to further her education and athletic career following her time at Yale University.

From beginning running at a young age to working hard in the classroom, Isom thanks her parents and attributes much of her academic and athletic successes to them.

"My desire to further my education really starts and ends with my parents," she said.

After earning a bachelor's degree in environmental engineering and energy studies along with a certificate in Spanish at Yale, Isom looked to Michigan as the perfect place to continue her not-yet-ended academic and athletic careers. Especially with having experienced a shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Isom was driven to continue her short-lived running journey as a collegiate student-athlete.

"I felt really short-changed by COVID, especially at Yale. They shut us down for an entire year," said Isom. "I felt like my undergraduate career, socially, academically and athletically was really cut short by that."

Looking to capitalize on her undergraduate achievements both in classroom and on the track, Isom found Michigan to be the ideal home.

"It just kind of worked out," she said. "Michigan gave me the perfect opportunity to get a master's degree in something else that I was interested in while also being able to finish out my athletic eligibility. It was something that I'd never be able to do again, so it was just a way to reclaim that lost time."

It did not take long for Isom to integrate herself with the Maize and Blue community when she came to Michigan. For Isom, being able to be a part of such a spirited and passionate community means so much.

"I love how spirited and passionate and driven everybody is here, especially athletically," she said.

As a student-athlete, Isom works hard to balance both athletics and graduate student life and a work-life balance is essential for her to excel in both fields.

"I think I'm good at managing my time just because I like to fill all of my time with something, and that is probably the single biggest factor to my being able to balance both athletics and academics at a high level," Isom said.

Isom reflects on her academic path and where it will take her and while Isom deeply cherishes her time at Michigan, she looks forward to incorporating all that she has learned into the professional sphere of investment banking.

"I value the experience and the knowledge," she said. "It's kind of like layering things on top of each other, my undergrad education, my master's degree, and my post-grad career in investment banking."

As she continues to close in on earning her master's degree in economics, Isom plans to stay active and carry her competitive spirit wherever she goes.

"My love of being active and my competitive spirit will not leave me and probably drive my future," she said.