Our Alumni Spotlight series will be an ongoing feature, highlighting former student-athletes and catching up on where their journeys have taken them after graduation. Amanda Ablan, former Georgia Softball student-athlete, graduated in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in Human Development and Family Studies and later a master’s degree in Child Life from the College of Charleston in 2022.
Can you tell us about your current career and what you are doing now?
I live in Savannah, GA where I am currently working as a certified child life specialist at the children’s hospital in Savannah. My role as a child life specialist includes providing developmentally appropriate education, procedural support, emotional expression, and play to help promote positive coping in the hospital. I work closely with the multidisciplinary team and families to meet the diverse needs of each patient that comes to the hospital. During my free time, I love going on Tybee Island to the beach or exploring the local parks here in Savannah.
How did your experience as a student-athlete prepare you for your professional career?
My experiences as a student-athlete prepared me for my professional career as it provided me with the transferable skills of compassionate care, adaptability, team collaboration, time-management, and a growth mindset. I have been able to take my athletic skills and teamwork approach directly into graduate school and then forward into my career at a children’s hospital for the last two years.
What was the most important lesson you learned from balancing academics, athletics, and your personal life during college?
The most important lesson I learned from balancing academics, athletics, and my personal life is that self-care and investing in your own individualized coping strategies is the foundation for success. Personally, going on walks, listening to music, or spending quality time with friends are coping strategies that I utilized in college and still to this day. These strategies allowed me to balance my responsibilities while also growing who I am as a person outside of my sport.
What is one thing you wish you had known about life after sports before you graduated?
One thing I wish I had known was that your community is what you make it. In college, being on a team you are automatically around a diverse group of women who inspire you and ground you. In life after sports, you have to seek out others who help you grow as a person and who inspire you like your teammates did.
Looking back, what advice would you give to current student-athletes who are trying to navigate life after college and sport?
One piece of advice I would give current student-athletes is to invest in the community programming and opportunities that The Georgia Way provides. Networking and putting yourself out there in the community will set you up for success when you are navigating life after sports. You are more than your sport, and it is up to you to continue growing yourself and investing in your career goals after sports.
When you think about your time as a Bulldog, what is one moment that stands out the most?
One moment that stands out most would be the quality time spent with my teammates who quickly became sisters and friends. We shared the best and worst moments together on and off the field and continued to cheer for each other no matter what.
