The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS Student Athlete Of The Month Swimming And Diving Junior Maddy Frost Local product Maddy Frost of Saline, Mich., is a junior on the women's swimming and diving team and is expected to be an X- factor during the quest for a Big Ten cham- pionship in February. She's thriving in Ann Arbor now, but almost ended up elsewhere. "Both my brother and sister went to Michi- gan and since I was from Saline, I thought I knew everything about the school, which was so untrue," Frost said. "I actually wanted to get out of the state. "Then I got a call from [associate head coach] Rick [Bishop] and he sold everything about Michigan so well, and I couldn't deny what Michigan had to offer. No one else could offer what Michigan did so it ended up being the perfect fit." The academic rigors at Michigan can prove tough for a lot of students and that was the case for Frost in the beginning. She eventually found her way, though, and is now flourishing as a screen arts and cultures major. "I wasn't always the best in school," she admitted. "My first semester of my freshman year was very difficult for me to adjust to. I was in classes that I did not enjoy and that made school dramatically harder. "I just wasn't very happy with school, but when I found something that I was really passionate about, I was able to find a lot of success." One area of success includes her involvement with Athletes Connected, a collaboration between the University of Michigan School of Public Health, De- pression Center and the Athletic Department to increase awareness of mental health issues. Frost, along with water polo junior Emily Browning, produced a video for Athletes Connected, and it's been very well received. "Athletes Connected has different resources for student-athletes to help them mentally, instead of just focusing directly on academics or their sport," Frost explained. "It's a place to get away from the stresses of being a student-athlete, and it's helped a lot of people. "We found out that A.C. wanted to make a video, and I expressed how inter- ested I was in helping out with the project so that's how it all came about." Life after Michigan isn't completely mapped out for Frost, but no matter what J u n i o r f r e e s t y l e r M a d d y Fr o s t earned All-America honorable men- tion in the 200-yard medley relay during her rookie year and was named second-team All-Big Ten last season. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS