NASHVILLE, Tenn. — As a hurdler, Vanderbilt’s Mya Georgiadis has expertise in not letting obstacles slow her. So when an injury cut short her sophomore season, scuttling aspirations to return to NCAA regionals for the second time in as many years and compete internationally for Greece, she found another way forward this summer.
Instead of chasing personal bests on tracks across the globe, Georgiadis stood on the rooftop deck of a Los Angeles hotel shortly after the end of the Vanderbilt academic year. Instead of track spikes, she wore business casual. Instead of competing against the other student-athletes in attendance, she discussed life experiences, professional aspirations and anything else that came to mind. In short, she networked.
She’s working hard on her competitive comeback, still determined to see how far she can go in the SEC and internationally. But as one of 16 Vanderbilt student-athletes who recently traveled to Southern California to participate in career trek programming and attend the ninth annual Black Student-Athlete Summit, she also enters her junior year inspired to apply the lessons of a life in athletics to the world that awaits beyond the finish line.
“Being able to look around and see so many student-athletes who looked like me, let alone who all want to network and grow, exposed me to and connected me with people from across the country,” Georgiadis said of mingling on the rooftop after a day spent learning about everything from entrepreneurship to social media to personal finances. “We’re sitting here and we’re the same age, we want to follow the same career path, we will definitely bump into each other down the line. So why not make connections now?
“During the day, it was like we were at school, taking notes and learning. But then afterwards, we grab food together and talk about our plans for the future. It was a really good mix of friendship and professional development all in one.”
Making Time for Growth
Organized by the Ingram Center for Student-Athlete Success and led by Amari Dryden, director of career development, the trip spanned seven days in Los Angeles.
The first half of the trip focused on career trek programming, with a variety of business leaders, innovators and alumni meeting with Vanderbilt student-athletes. During the second half of the trip, the Commodores participated in the Black Student-Athlete Summit. On the campus of the University of Southern California, the annual…