The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/347495
INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS Sachi Sugiyama has a secret. She likes her homework assignments. The Keller, Texas, native is an art and design major, building towards a career in movie ani- mation. The schedule she must keep is strenuous for a student-athlete eager to compete at the highest level in her sport, but she has found it easier to accept the demands while pursuing her passion. "In high school, I took three years of art thinking it was fun but would prob- ably never lead to anything as a career," Sugiyama said. "Then when I came to Michigan I thought I would get into sci- ence, but I just really missed art and needed that creative outlet. "The spring after my freshman year, I took an art class. Basic fundamentals of drawing, and my professor asked me why I wasn't in Art School and I told him my advisors and everyone was against it — that I wouldn't have time with gym- nastics to fit it into my schedule. "He directed me to Karina Moore in the Art School, and we talked to advi- sors and figured out a schedule because I really wanted to do it." A two-time U-M Athletic Academic Achievement and two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree (both in 2013 and 2014), Sugiyama was also named a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar this past year, while in the gym, she earned first-team All- America distinction on the vault. "When you get rewards or finish well, it's a great feeling," the rising senior said. "You feel that all the hard work is paying off, and that the crazy schedule you have is not all for nothing." And that schedule can be crazy. Sugiyama is often at class by 9 a.m., then to gymnastics practice and then back to school. She has taken a class that didn't end until 10 p.m. "It's hard sometimes, especially with finals when you have projects that take a long time to finish," she said. "You really have to be smart about it. I've had to take night classes or really early-morning classes. I am up really late a lot of time trying Student-Athlete Of The Month Rising Senior Gymnast Sachi Sugiyama Sugiyama, an art and design major, is build- ing towards a career in movie animation. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS