Scholar Stories: Beaty Serving Dual Role as Student-Athlete, Mentor
2/16/2022 9:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis, Features
By Catherine Heher
Nick Beaty constantly walks the line between student and teacher.
He is very much a student-athlete as the senior-most member on the University of Michigan men's tennis team and a graduate student in the School of Social Work. However, Beaty's six years on the team and his postgraduate ambitions place him in the role of mentor or role model just as often.
Beaty's world is frequently a give-and-take between learning from those around him and offering his own wisdom and experience in return.
He was a psychology major as an undergraduate at Michigan, with a particular interest in developmental psychology.
"Looking at the lifespan of a person and how the mind develops and changes over time was super cool and kind of changed the way I looked at the world," he said. Such interests are what led him to the School of Social Work, where he is pursuing a degree in interpersonal practice in integrated health, mental health and substance abuse.
Beaty also does a significant amount of learning outside of the classroom. He is currently an intern at Eastern Michigan University's Student-Athlete Support Services, where he gets a real-world sense of what it is like to work in the counseling and mental health fields.
He also is happy to acknowledge that he is still honing both his skills on the court and as a leader.
"I'm in year six now, and I still feel like I'm picking up new stuff," Beaty said.
One of Beaty's most telling characteristics is his ability to learn from and embrace moments of imperfection. Beaty, like many student-athletes, is open about the challenges of balancing school and athletics. In hindsight, there are moments when he wishes he had prioritized one thing over another.
"There's trials over a long period of time, and you have to collect data about yourself," he said. "You learn from your mistakes."
While he is constantly learning, such wisdom and experience have led Beaty to adapt many leadership roles as well. He often taught tennis lessons to kids back home in Wayzata, Minn., during breaks, passing on his knowledge and support. At Michigan, Beaty often makes a point to help younger teammates adjust to college life and work through some of the things he has struggled with in the past.
In many ways, his internship at Eastern Michigan represents a perfect merging of his passions. It gives him the opportunity to explore his interests in psychology and mental health, while also mentoring student-athletes.
"It's a two-way credibility thing," he said.
On one hand, Beaty is uniquely equipped to support student-athletes, given that he is one. However, he has to be careful that the lines between mentor and peer do not get too blurred.
As Beaty finishes out his last year on the Michigan team, this conflict will become less pervasive. That said, his process for navigating such dynamics represents the core of who Beaty is. While he will not always be a student-athlete, he always will be someone who learns from what life gives him, and pays it forward in turn.
While he remains in Ann Arbor, he hopes to eventually take on some clients of his own at his current internship. He also plans to remain involved in the world of Michigan tennis as a graduate assistant coach.
Beaty is still determining his specific, long-term career goals, but both of these upcoming opportunities provide a good sense of the type of work that matters to him. He knows that advocating for and encouraging others will be an important part of his work, regardless of his career choice.
"Helping others has been something I really enjoy doing," Beaty said, "whether it's pushing somebody on during training or helping other student-athletes who are in similar positions that I was."
Ultimately, it seems he is most focused on supporting college-age people. From his studies and his personal experiences, Beaty understands the years of early adulthood to be some of the most important in a person's life.
"Being a student-athlete at Michigan and being a part of our culture in the tennis program has really shaped the way that I live my life." he said. "It has been one of the more transformative experiences someone could have."
Players Mentioned
