Thunderbird Life Skills

In Thunderbird Life Skills, we are committed to the overall success of our student-athletes in all aspects of life. While competing as a student-athlete at Mesa Community College, we want to see you transform into the best version of yourself, both on and off the playing surface. Through the services offered in the Thunderbird Life Skills Program, we hope to best prepare you for life after MCC.

 

Program Goals:

- To empower student-athletes to take ownership of their future

- To engage in each student-athletes’ pathway to success

- To sustain student-athletes with skills & resources necessary for life after college

- To transform student-athletes into leaders in the classroom, in athletic competition, and in the community

 

Thunderbird Life Skills focuses in four areas of work to benefit Student-Athletes:

1. Personal Development

2. Professional Development

3. Campus Engagement

4. Community Outreach

 

Overall, we hope this program will enhance your time at MCC through focusing on development of the whole person, in and out of athletics, while also offering increased opportunities for you to engage with the campus & community.

 

Personal Development

 

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
Thunderbird Life Skills seeks to develop athletes in every aspect of their life. The skill set you take from your time as an athlete at MCC can be applied to the next level, be it athletics, the professional world, or your personal day-to-day life. Among some of those traits that Thunderbird Life Skills will explore:

  • Motivation
  • Mastering Skills
  • Focus & Concentration
  • Injury Prevention & Maintenance
  • Positivity, Confidence, & Belief
  • Avoiding Burnout

STUDENT-ATHLETE ADVISORY COMMITTEE (SAAC)
The SAAC at Mesa Community College serves as a means of communication between teams, administration, and the community surrounding MCC. The council is composed of student-athletes from each sport, who serve to represent the interests, opinions, and concerns of the MCC student-athletes. SAAC provides an opportunity to enhance leadership abilities and make an impact on individual teams, within the department of athletics, in the Mesa community, and at MCC as a whole.

THUNDERBIRD LIFE SKILLS NEWSLETTER
At the beginning of the fall semester, Thunderbird Life Skills will begin rolling out a bimonthly newsletter that you can receive every two weeks. This newsletter will feature some insight on personal development, as well as information as to the various goings-on both on and off campus with your fellow athletes. It will be sent directly to your MCC Canvas account.

 

Additional Resources

 

In addition to our newsletter, we’ll maintain a rolling list of podcasts, journal articles, and features about your fellow MCC athletes, as well as those from other programs or the professional ranks as we strive to connect the material here to some real-life application. Seeing it in practice is a strong start toward embracing some of these skills and applying them to your own life on a consistent basis. Many of these will find their way onto our social media platforms, but be sure to revisit this page to immerse yourself in some of the ideas that Thunderbird Life Skills is hoping to instill in our athletes!

Our first newsletter focus is on MOTIVATION. See below for some helpful resources on maintaining motivation, regardless of the situation:

 

Community Outreach

 

WHY SHOULD I VOLUNTEER?
Volunteering is not only good for your community; it is also good for your career. The people you can meet, the skills you can acquire, and the experience you can build up through a volunteering position can be invaluable in enhancing your resume, and in making your qualifications stand out to potential new employers.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
Multiple volunteer events will be scheduled for optional participation throughout the school year. Individuals and teams interested in volunteering can reach out to Director of Athletics John Mulhern to find an event that fits their schedule.

THUNDERBIRDS IN THE COMMUNITY