Scholar Stories: Milligan Using Psychology Degree to Build Community, Raise International Student Involvement
1/22/2025 2:00:00 PM | Women's Swimming & Diving
Continuing the series that began in 2016-17, each week MGoBlue.com will highlight a Michigan student-athlete and their academic pursuits. These are our Scholar-Athlete Stories, presented by Absopure.
By Mya Fromwiller
Although Kiarra Milligan, a junior on the Michigan women's swimming and diving team, came into college as a nursing major, she later switched to psychology, where she quickly uncovered a new passion. She always enjoyed working closely with others and realized that studying psychology would help her do that in a broader range of career paths. Throughout her time in the major, Milligan has thoroughly enjoyed the curriculum and the variety of classes that she has taken, including several classes on adult and pediatric mental health.
Looking back, Milligan expresses that majoring in psychology aligns with interests she has had since childhood, which were influenced heavily by her parents. She explains that she always admired her dad's work ethic and patience and noticed how these traits impacted the way he worked with others. Her admiration for these traits inspired her to go into a major that would help her work well with others and has similar feelings about other family members as well.
"My mum really shaped this interest because she was someone who could talk to anyone, that's why I've gotten more involved in psychology," said Milligan. "I wanted to learn more about it and connect with people. I've always wanted to work with people and being hands-on in terms of the community and social aspects is why I've really liked psychology."
In addition to her psychology major, she is also pursuing a minor in crime and justice, which is an interest she has had since high school. Although she is extremely happy with her choice to pursue a new major and minor, she is also passionate about taking advantage of all of the different learning opportunities at Michigan and is constantly expanding her areas of study. Most recently, she has done so by applying for the Sales and Business Development Certificate program (formerly known as the Cappo Sales Track) through the Ross School of Business.
In all areas of study, Milligan has excelled in her coursework and has received several academic awards, such as University Honors and being named College Sports Communicators Academic All-District. Her success in her academic pursuits is extremely meaningful to her, as Milligan is a first-generation college student. Milligan always dreamed of attending college in America and is proud to pursue that dream while also being the first person in her family to attend college.
Outside of the classroom, Milligan is involved in various organizations on campus and has been able to apply many of the learnings from her psychology classes to her extracurricular experiences. In the winter of 2024, she started with her teammate Evie Johnson a club called Worldwide Wolverines, which aims to provide a tight-knit community for international student-athletes and resources to alleviate the challenges of moving abroad. As an international student from Brisbane, Australia, Milligan understood how intimidating it is to move to a new country and wanted to use her own experiences to help support other international student-athletes.
"It's about helping international students feel connected to each other, because oftentimes it's very hard," said Milligan. "You feel alone because you have to be independent and work hard, but we just wanted to provide a space for us to come together."
She also works with the Michigan Athletics Development staff as a student-athlete ambassador, frequently communicating with donors and sponsors of Michigan Athletics. This is a role that she has enjoyed and appreciates how it has allowed her to build relationships with professionals in a variety of careers. It has also allowed her to explore career opportunities in the sports field and provided her with amazing experiences, such as working on the field at football games or in the suite with the university's athletic directors.
Despite the challenges that accompany being a student-athlete and balancing all of these responsibilities, Milligan is constantly inspired by the Michigan community and its work ethic. She feels that being at Michigan has pushed her to work harder towards her goals, which is something she has appreciated about her time in Ann Arbor.
"I really like school here because a lot of the people have high goals and high aspirations," said Milligan. "There's a lot of people who are very diligent and hardworking. When you're surrounded by people like this, you want to be like them; you want to work hard; you want to have goals and you know you want to go far. It's really good for you because it makes you a better person."
Although she is still a junior, Milligan is considering career paths in a few different areas, such as working in sports, working in sales or even continuing her education by pursuing a graduate degree in psychology. In whatever field she pursues, she is grateful for her psychology coursework and feels that it will allow her to connect and work well with others in a variety of settings.
In addition to her success in academic and campus involvement, Milligan has also excelled in her sport throughout her time in college. She has competed in several collegiate diving championship meets, and placed second at Big Ten Championships and seventh at NCAA Championships, earning her All-America honors.
She was inspired to begin diving by an Olympic gold medalist diver from Australia, Chantelle Newberry, who came to speak at an elite program near her house, and by age 7, Milligan started diving with her twin sister. As her love for diving progressed, so did her skills, and eventually, she was chosen to train in Brisbane's Elite Diving Program. Soon, she began competing at international competitions, such as the World Junior Championships, which prompted her to consider how she wanted to continue her diving career after she finished high school. Several of her teammates and mentors had gone to compete at the collegiate level in America and after extensive conversations with them, she decided that was the path she wanted to take as well.
Milligan had always dreamed of going to school in America, either for high school or college, so when the opportunity presented itself for her to dive at the NCAA level, she was extremely excited. When choosing which university she wanted to attend, she quickly realized that Michigan was the right choice for her. In addition to the academic and athletic rigor at the University of Michigan, Milligan was also attracted to the program by the amazing coaching staff and team of international talent.
"I emailed the Michigan coach at the time and when I had my first Zoom call with him, we barely spoke about diving," said Milligan. "We just called and got along well and then I told my parents, 'I'm going to Michigan.' Since then, it has been a straightforward path and now, I'm here."
Although moving to a different country by herself was challenging, Milligan also felt ready to make a big change in her life. The opportunity to attend college in America while continuing her diving career was extremely exciting and is one she is extremely grateful to have.
"I needed change because I had been in Brisbane, my home city, diving for 10 years or so and I was getting to the point where I just wanted a change," said Milligan "This was the change and I love it."
Now in her third year in the program, Milligan feels confident in her choice. She describes the team as a family and has loved the people she is surrounded with in the program. Although the coaching staff has undergone some changes, she notes that being the most improved women's swimming and diving team in the NCAA proves how strong and resilient both the program and coaching staff are.
"The diving team is so close," said Milligan "They're like my brothers and sisters. They've done so much for me and I feel like we're really close and connected. We've always been. We've grown a lot more together as a team and everyone's always been there for me."
When asked what advice she would give to divers interested in competing at the collegiate level, she emphasizes the importance of networking and advises them to reach out to coaches, even though it can be intimidating.
"Keep working hard and try new things, reach out to coaches," said Milligan. "It's better to reach out than to not. If you work hard and you have goals, it'll work out."
As for her advice for athletes balancing school and athletics, she advises to always find joy in your sport, especially when things get difficult. This is something that has helped her balance all of the different responsibilities she has as a student-athlete.
"Make sure you don't take it too seriously. Have fun with it and know that you like what you're doing," Milligan said. "It's important to have good friends and people you can talk to. That's a big thing in terms of balancing life and school."
Both in the classroom and her sport, Milligan has shown that she has what it takes to be successful in whatever she does. Her studies, campus involvement and participation in collegiate athletics have been extremely impactful in her life and as she begins to narrow down which career path she wants to pursue, these experiences will provide her with the skills necessary to make an impact.
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