Winning in the (Virtual) Classroom
8/31/2020 11:43:00 AM | Baseball, Field Hockey, Football, Athletics, Men's Basketball, Men's Cross Country, Men's Golf, Men's Lacrosse, Men's Soccer, Men's Swimming and Diving, Men's Tennis, Men's Track and Field, Men's Rowing, Softball, Women's Basketball, Women's Cross Country, Women's Golf, Women's Lacrosse, Women's Rowing, Women's Soccer, Women's Swimming and Diving, Women's Tennis, Women's Track and Field, Volleyball, Men's Wrestling, Student Athlete, Features, Flight 45, Intellectual Development
By: Justin Lafleur, Lehigh Sports Communications
When the COVID-19 pandemic first hit, the athlete part of student-athlete was suddenly ripped away. The student aspect not only remained, but also took center stage… even though it looked and felt different.
It took significant adaptability to adjust to the virtual nature of academics, but in the end, Lehigh's student-athletes successfully navigated through.
And they're better off for experiencing that adversity.
"Just like everyone, I was in a state of shock and disbelief in March… and felt a lot of fear," said Director of Student-Athlete Academic Services Katie Guynn, who has served as a key area of support throughout. "I was heartbroken for our student-athletes who were not only losing their seasons, but also losing the opportunity to be on campus."
Guynn quickly turned that shock into action, asking herself how she could continue to support the student-athletes in the new reality.
"A lot of my work – especially these one-on-one coaching conversations, weekly meetings and accountability groups – all turned virtual," she said. "I'll never forget meeting with the football coaches in mid-March and telling myself I'm probably not coming back to campus for a while."
Guynn was right.
At that time, in March and April, it would have been easy to become defeated, but the mentality around Lehigh Athletics shifted to focus on the opportunity ahead (rather than lament what was taken away).
"Our coaches felt all the same shock, fear and uncertainty we all did, but started pushing home this idea of controlling what you can control," said Guynn. "They were great with their messaging and it happened almost immediately. You can control how well you do academically this semester. Let's make that your primary focus."
The student-athletes were receiving support and a consistent message from a number of voices. Along the way, Guynn continued to bring her optimistic, glass-half-full mindset.
"If it was going to happen, I was thankful it happened midway through second semester because students already had a regular schedule in place," she said. "With midterm grades coming in around that time, it gave me a reason to reach out to a new group of students. The response rate was high, I felt mostly because they wanted to connect with someone. It wasn't that I knew something they didn't, but I believe they wanted to feel some support, which I was happy to offer."
How exactly did Guynn support?
Through many of the ways she supports during a typical school year.
"It felt like a long sprint from mid-March to the end of finals," she said. "It's normally hectic, but it felt like back-to-back-to-back-to back meetings and you don't realize the exhaustion that comes with that. In a way, it was good because the days were going by quickly and in a way, overwhelming.
"How do I keep supporting, helping and encouraging these young men and women who are willing to engage and buy in?"
One way Guynn engaged with student-athletes was by defining success strategies while being home amidst distractions.
"I also received a lot of meeting requests because student-athletes were looking at this as an opportunity and possibility," she said. "I thought things were going to calm down a little bit as finals started, but around that time, students were saying their internships got cancelled so now they wanted to take summer school or were thinking about adding a second major or minor."
Lehigh's student-athletes continued to take advantage of the opportunity in front of them, and so did Guynn.
"One example that comes to mind is my football accountability groups," she said. "We were able to engage alumni from across the country to talk about their experiences and give professional development advice to those first-years. It's much harder to bring someone to campus than invite them to a Zoom call for 45 minutes on a Friday, which we began to do in the spring.
"The pandemic has been a lesson to be creative, adapt and find the opportunity in what's happening."
The numbers certainly proved the Mountain Hawks did just that; as a department, Lehigh Athletics posted a 3.53 spring GPA. With it being an atypical spring semester, Lehigh University's grading system included an option to turn any of their classes into the credit grading system.
"Once the decision deadline [to change the grading option] approached, there was huge outreach and communication, talking options and strategy," said Guynn.
In many ways, the high cumulative GPA showed strong self-awareness by the student-athletes in deciding which classes to keep the traditional letter grade, and which ones to turn into credit only.
"It was an opportunity for coaches to be pretty blunt and honest with their student-athletes… same for me," said Guynn. "If you're interested in graduate school and it's looking like you'll get a B- in a class that will bring your GPA down a little bit, maybe you should keep it as a B- so whoever's looking at your transcript isn't thinking you got a C-.
"There was sensitivity and thoughtfulness by our student-athletes, but they did well and took advantage of it, which is reflected in our super high team GPA numbers."
It's clear that no matter the setting, student-athletes are competitive people.
"Our student-athletes are always trying to maximize their time," said Guynn. "Honestly, I thought we wouldn't see as many people take summer classes as we ended up seeing. But they figured out ways to get it done.
"I've often said to senior staff that I am so impressed with our student athletes' resilience, their ability to adapt and continue to stay motivated, and desire to achieve at the highest level."
The pandemic took away the chance to win in their sport, but the student-athletes are winning in the game of life.
"Moving forward, this is something that's really easy for them to talk about and help sell themselves in an interview experience," said Guynn. "These are unprecedented times and they've adapted and successfully navigated through."
When the COVID-19 pandemic first hit, the athlete part of student-athlete was suddenly ripped away. The student aspect not only remained, but also took center stage… even though it looked and felt different.
It took significant adaptability to adjust to the virtual nature of academics, but in the end, Lehigh's student-athletes successfully navigated through.
And they're better off for experiencing that adversity.
"Just like everyone, I was in a state of shock and disbelief in March… and felt a lot of fear," said Director of Student-Athlete Academic Services Katie Guynn, who has served as a key area of support throughout. "I was heartbroken for our student-athletes who were not only losing their seasons, but also losing the opportunity to be on campus."
Guynn quickly turned that shock into action, asking herself how she could continue to support the student-athletes in the new reality.
"A lot of my work – especially these one-on-one coaching conversations, weekly meetings and accountability groups – all turned virtual," she said. "I'll never forget meeting with the football coaches in mid-March and telling myself I'm probably not coming back to campus for a while."
Guynn was right.
At that time, in March and April, it would have been easy to become defeated, but the mentality around Lehigh Athletics shifted to focus on the opportunity ahead (rather than lament what was taken away).
"Our coaches felt all the same shock, fear and uncertainty we all did, but started pushing home this idea of controlling what you can control," said Guynn. "They were great with their messaging and it happened almost immediately. You can control how well you do academically this semester. Let's make that your primary focus."
The student-athletes were receiving support and a consistent message from a number of voices. Along the way, Guynn continued to bring her optimistic, glass-half-full mindset.
"If it was going to happen, I was thankful it happened midway through second semester because students already had a regular schedule in place," she said. "With midterm grades coming in around that time, it gave me a reason to reach out to a new group of students. The response rate was high, I felt mostly because they wanted to connect with someone. It wasn't that I knew something they didn't, but I believe they wanted to feel some support, which I was happy to offer."
How exactly did Guynn support?
Through many of the ways she supports during a typical school year.
"It felt like a long sprint from mid-March to the end of finals," she said. "It's normally hectic, but it felt like back-to-back-to-back-to back meetings and you don't realize the exhaustion that comes with that. In a way, it was good because the days were going by quickly and in a way, overwhelming.
"How do I keep supporting, helping and encouraging these young men and women who are willing to engage and buy in?"
One way Guynn engaged with student-athletes was by defining success strategies while being home amidst distractions.
"I also received a lot of meeting requests because student-athletes were looking at this as an opportunity and possibility," she said. "I thought things were going to calm down a little bit as finals started, but around that time, students were saying their internships got cancelled so now they wanted to take summer school or were thinking about adding a second major or minor."
Lehigh's student-athletes continued to take advantage of the opportunity in front of them, and so did Guynn.
"One example that comes to mind is my football accountability groups," she said. "We were able to engage alumni from across the country to talk about their experiences and give professional development advice to those first-years. It's much harder to bring someone to campus than invite them to a Zoom call for 45 minutes on a Friday, which we began to do in the spring.
"The pandemic has been a lesson to be creative, adapt and find the opportunity in what's happening."
The numbers certainly proved the Mountain Hawks did just that; as a department, Lehigh Athletics posted a 3.53 spring GPA. With it being an atypical spring semester, Lehigh University's grading system included an option to turn any of their classes into the credit grading system.
"Once the decision deadline [to change the grading option] approached, there was huge outreach and communication, talking options and strategy," said Guynn.
In many ways, the high cumulative GPA showed strong self-awareness by the student-athletes in deciding which classes to keep the traditional letter grade, and which ones to turn into credit only.
"It was an opportunity for coaches to be pretty blunt and honest with their student-athletes… same for me," said Guynn. "If you're interested in graduate school and it's looking like you'll get a B- in a class that will bring your GPA down a little bit, maybe you should keep it as a B- so whoever's looking at your transcript isn't thinking you got a C-.
"There was sensitivity and thoughtfulness by our student-athletes, but they did well and took advantage of it, which is reflected in our super high team GPA numbers."
It's clear that no matter the setting, student-athletes are competitive people.
"Our student-athletes are always trying to maximize their time," said Guynn. "Honestly, I thought we wouldn't see as many people take summer classes as we ended up seeing. But they figured out ways to get it done.
"I've often said to senior staff that I am so impressed with our student athletes' resilience, their ability to adapt and continue to stay motivated, and desire to achieve at the highest level."
The pandemic took away the chance to win in their sport, but the student-athletes are winning in the game of life.
"Moving forward, this is something that's really easy for them to talk about and help sell themselves in an interview experience," said Guynn. "These are unprecedented times and they've adapted and successfully navigated through."
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