Student-athlete stories: How Mia Workman’s season-ending knee injury helped shape her career path in KPE

Student-athlete Mia Workman in action (photo credit Henry Zhao)
14/01/2021

Each Thursday, varsityblues.ca highlights a U of T student-athlete and their academic pursuits. Each of these students achieved first class honours with an AGPA of at least 3.50 in the previous academic year. This week, the spotlight is on fourth year kinesiology student and Varsity Blues volleyball player Mia Workman.

 

Not every first-year student-athlete has a storybook beginning to their university careers and that is especially true for third-year Varsity Blues women’s volleyball veteran Mia Workman.

The Ottawa native suffered a major knee injury in the summer of 2017, sidelining her for her entire first season at U of T. After surgery and extensive physiotherapy, Workman donned the Blue and White for the first time in the fall of 2018.

“My favourite Varsity Blues memory has to be the first time I stepped on the court in my second year after suffering a knee injury,” she said. “Once I was able to play again, it taught me that hard work and dedication will get you back on the right track and I wouldn't have been able to do it without the support of my coaches and trainers.”

Since then, the fourth-year kinesiology and physical education major has helped the Blues to two straight OUA championship titles and earned U SPORTS academic all-Canadian honours during the 2019-20 season. 

mia workmanWorkman, middle, with teammates Jenna Woock and Hayley Goodwin, celebrating their 2020 OUA Quigley Cup victory (photo credit Seyran Mammadov)

Although she has always had a passion for sport and physical activity, Workman enjoys that her field of study encompasses so much more.

“I love how the Bachelor of Kinesiology program incorporates all sides of kinesiology - physical cultural, behavioural and biophysical - to develop students to be extremely well-rounded and have the ability to take any sort of approach in our field,” she said. “The slogan the program uses, 'From Human Anatomy to Human Rights,’ truly does speak to what we do and that's what I love most about it. The professors are extremely innovative and passionate about their research, allowing them to design classes dedicated to what they study and foster a learning environment to thrive in.”

Although her future goals are not set in stone, Workman’s knee injury did steer her in a specific direction after she completes her undergraduate degree.  

“My goal is to get in to a Master's program at the University of Toronto, ideally doing something in rehabilitation science,” she said. “My two biggest passions are working with kids and using both a scientific as well as sociological based approach to help people recover from metabolic related illnesses. I hope to work in a rehabilitation hospital, or work as a high school physical education teacher.”
 mia workman
Workman and the Blues vs the Waterloo Warriors in 2018-19 (photo credit Henry Zhao)

Workman’s passion for metabolic-related illnesses arose during her third-year lifestyle and metabolic disease course.

“[In that class,] I learned about the physiological development of obesity and type two diabetes in the human body,” she said. “It taught me that every choice we make about our lifestyle directly affects our metabolic health, demonstrating how research in kinesiology is so important in maintaining the health of every Canadian to improve longevity and quality of life.”

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic sidelining yet another season for Workman, she is focusing on her schoolwork and explains that team workouts continue to contribute to her success.

“I try to make a designated study space outside of my room where I can separate work from home and put in good, focused work sessions and do what I need to get done,” she explained. “Incorporating training on top of this allows me to further find balance in my life when managing school and stress associated with the pandemic, giving me opportunities to feel some sort of normalcy.”

If there weren’t already numerous things to admire about Workman’s university career, her overall mantra takes the cake.

“Do everything with passion. If you love what you do then it doesn't seem like work and it makes things so much easier to complete.”