Mika Mierzwa is a former collegiate volleyball player from Coastal Carolina, where she competed in both indoor and beach volleyball while pursuing a biology degree. Graduating early, Mika stepped away from sport sooner than expected — a transition that pushed her to confront how deeply her identity was tied to being an athlete. After college, she spent time living abroad in Thailand and later in Charleston, using that space to disconnect, reset, and rediscover who she was outside of volleyball.

Now a veterinary student at the University of Arizona, Mika shares how her experience as a college athlete prepared her for the intensity of vet school – from discipline and time management to resilience under pressure. She reflects on the challenge of no longer receiving external validation through sports, learning to build her own internal feedback ...