Scholar Stories: Extra Year Led Selzer to Ross School of Business
10/20/2022 10:00:00 AM | Football, Features
By Erin O'Hara
Helping people always has been the main focus in the life of University of Michigan graduate-student tight end Carter Selzer. Whether that is throwing blocks on the field to help spring large plays for his teammates or working with an anesthesiologist group on campus to streamline insurance payments and reduce waste, Selzer seeks a way to make an impact.
Selzer completed his undergraduate at Michigan's School of Kinesiology, where he majored in movement science and racked up three Academic All-Big Ten awards. He viewed this as the best path to fulfill his goal of becoming a doctor to further help people.
"I wanted to be a doctor but I am still weighing my options," said Selzer. "I've learned I can use the gifts that I have to help people in more ways than just treating them medically."
However, during his time in graduate school through the Masters of Management program at the Ross School of Business, which is ranked in the top 10 for graduate programs, the sixth-year tight end has learned there are more ways than one to help.
"I really like (Ross) because it's helped me see what is available, especially with the great faculty and staff," Selzer said "They've got a ton of people that are there to help you explore a lot of possibilities. It's also empowering like, 'Wow, I could do anything I want.'"
The Ross curriculum has really helped to expand Selzer's point of view on what life after football could look like, but he is not ready to hang up the cleats just yet.
"I'm taking advantage of every day I can here," he said. "I'm having a blast playing football and trying to make the stuff last as long as it can."
Making the decision to come back to Michigan and play for the Wolverines was a no-brainer for Selzer. After COVID-19 cut short the Wolverines' 2020 season, he knew he was going to be donning the block M until the NCAA would not let him play anymore.
"I want to play until someone else tells me I can't," said Selzer. "I was so distraught after the 2020 season got canceled, and I was freaking out feeling like something so special had gotten taken away from me."
This decision to return to the Maize and Blue benefited the tight end greatly. He made his first career catch as a fifth-year during the 2021 Big Ten Championship game that U-M won 42-14 en route to its first ever College Football Playoff appearance.
Selzer also is already making an impact on the field this year as a graduate student, playing in all seven games so far and helping out his Wolverine teammates make key plays.
A strong desire to help is not only something that drives Selzer's career, but it also is present in his day-to-day life. He strives to help out his fellow tight ends and prides himself on making sure they all know the playbook and are prepared for the day of practice ahead. His unwavering dedication to the team did not go unnoticed -- he was awarded a scholarship prior to the 2021 season due to his strong focus on the team.
The ability to excel in teamwork, something Selzer learned on the gridiron, has been a trait he is able to seamlessly incorporate in the classroom. There is a large emphasis on group work in Ross, so the ability to successfully be a leader but also a learner is something that has helped the tight end in the Ross classroom as well.
"In my program right now, everyone is pretty lively, high energy and they are also all pretty bright," he said. "They are really apt to get things done and it's really fun to be a part of this group at Ross."
Selzer's success in the classroom and on the field is an embodiment of what it means to be a Michigan student-athlete, which is one of the main reasons he chose to attend the University of Michigan.
"I love Michigan," he said. "They really do have the best combination of athletics and academics in the country, and when deciding where to go, it really was a no-brainer."
