Scholar Stories: Stephenson Combines Love of Sports, Helping Others in Career Endeavors
4/9/2025 2:30:00 PM | Softball
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 William Calhoun
University of Michigan softball sophomore Ella Stephenson's commitment to getting better every day helps her excel.
Stephenson, who graduated from Algonac High School, was a three-time Michigan first-team all-state honoree with 205 hits, 47 home runs and 181 runs batted in during her prep career. A multi-sport athlete, Stephenson also received four varsity letters in basketball and volleyball. The choice to stay home for her collegiate career was a no-brainer for Stephenson during her recruiting process.
"I went on a visit junior year during the fall time, and I immediately fell in love with the campus, the staff. They just had great resources and I knew it felt like home as soon as I stepped on campus," Stephenson said.
Pursuing a bachelor's degree in movement science from the School of Kinesiology requires a lot of time and energy, but Stephenson is committed to keeping a healthy work-play balance and devoting time to both her academic and athletic prowess while still finding time to have fun.
"It's about trying to keep a good balance between working on your sport but also putting a lot of time into your academics and commitment to studying," she said. "It's also important to have social time with your friends to keep your mind in a good headspace."
Sports have always been a large part of the Stephenson household. Her father, Mike, played baseball at Ferris State and Michigan State; her brother, Luke, played baseball at Xavier and Elon; and her brother, Grant, currently plays at Xavier.
"My older brothers, they played baseball, so I kind of followed in their footsteps a little bit and I was always at the diamond watching them play, and I was inspired to play," Stephenson said.
She developed a love for the game early on and is extremely thankful for the amazing teammates and friends she has met along the way. Softball can be a game of extreme frustration, and she recognizes that the skills needed to stay level-headed do not only apply to the game.
"Our sport is super up and down there can be a lot of highs and a lot of lows, and that kind of helps you with the real world because it's not going to be a piece of cake," Stephenson said.
Currently in the second year of her program, Stephenson chose movement science as it was a perfect intersection of her love of sports and helping others in need. Looking to pursue a career as a physician's assistant or physical therapist, the School of Kinesiology was the perfect route for her.
"The movement science major has a great curriculum that is geared to my interests and will be a good segue into what I want to do later on, which is work with people and help them feel like their best selves," Stephenson said.
Stephenson had a successful freshman season. She was a unanimous selection to the Big Ten All-Freshman team in addition to being named second-team All-Big Ten. Starting 58 games in right field, Stephenson came on at the end of the year, batting .382 with 14 extra-base hits and 38 RBI. In the Big Ten Tournament final, Stephenson's fourth-inning RBI brought the Wolverines level with Indiana en route to a tournament championship. Stephenson has kept rolling, batting .349 this season with six home runs and 28 RBI while starting every game in right field. She credits her late-season surge and continued success to trusting in her preparation and those around her.
"I think the biggest thing was not making the moment too big and trusting in all the work that I put in and committing to the adjustments I made early on," Stephenson said. "I have full trust in myself and full trust in my teammates, and it keeps things light by just enjoying the game."
Stephenson has a passion for being in a good headspace and after taking Scientific Writing with professor Michael Mignano, she decided to pursue an independent research project centered around self-compassion. As a means of collecting data, Stephenson has been conducting workshops for self-compassion with teammates working to help student-athletes become less critical of themselves. Her ultimate goal is to have her research published in an academic journal for use as a resource for others.
"Self-compassion is a tool that you can utilize to get yourself back into a good headspace and not let your frustrations take over," Stephenson said.
Stephenson's commitment to her studies and athletics drives her toward excellence in all aspects of her life. A hardworking individual committed to teaching her teammates about self-compassion, Stephenson is a model teammate. She has followed up an excellent freshman season with an equally solid sophomore start, propelling the Wolverines forward as they progress through Big Ten play.
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