Continuing the series that began in 2016-17, each Wednesday MGoBlue.com will highlight a Michigan student-athlete and their academic pursuits. These are our Scholar-Athlete Stories, presented by Absopure.
By Riann English
Growing up in Toronto, University of Michigan women’s tennis player Anca Craciun is no stranger to international travel.
Craciun and her family immigrated to Canada from Romania when she was only 3 years old. Living the first 11 years of her life as an only child, Cracuin recalls how supportive her family was of her dedication to both tennis and her studies.
“They pushed me very hard,” Craciun said of her parents, “but were always there if I ever needed anything. They gave me space to be independent, so I got to travel a lot at an early age. I went to Europe for the first time with my tennis team when I was 11 or 12.”
Despite all the traveling she had done for so many years, Craciun recognized what a big step attending college in a different country would be. As a traveler, she had always been accompanied by coaches and teammates. Attending the University of Michigan by herself was no easy feat, especially as the sole student from her high school who came to the U.S.
“I came here for the opportunity,” Craciun said. “In Canada, there aren’t tennis scholarships for schools [universities and colleges]. It was a way to get a great education while also playing the sport I love.”
Cracuin says that from an early age, a professional career in tennis was always her goal. She saw Michigan as a steppingstone to achieving it. While dominating the singles court last season (10-5), her academic excellence earned a spot on the 2020 Academic All-Big Ten team. Enrolled in the College of Literature, Science & the Arts (LSA), Craciun is majoring in statistics, one of the rarest majors in LSA.
“I had gone into it knowing that I was going to go towards an economics, finance or other business-related major.”
It was the Introduction to Statistics and Data Analysis class and the rigor associated with the major that solidified her interest in the field. Never one to back down from a challenge, Craciun officially declared her major at the end of her sophomore year and started actively seeking summer internship opportunities.
With help from the LSA Career Center, Craciun was able to intern with a local Ann Arbor insurance company. Through this job, she was able to meet people from many different fields and see how interdisciplinary this type of work can be. Now that her goals have shifted away from a professional tennis career, Craciun has given a lot more thought as to how she wants to utilize her future bachelor’s degree.
“I’m not entirely sure right now,” she says, “but I think that’s the beauty of it. With a statistics degree, I’ve heard that it’s very versatile and can be applied to a lot of different areas.”
Like most juniors in college, she’s still figuring out her post-graduation plans. Attending graduate school seems like the strongest option, as Craciun intends on utilizing her extra year of eligibility.
“I’m starting to look at other opportunities at different schools to potentially get my MBA,” she said. “I’m not entirely sure what industry I would like to go into. I’ve had a little bit of experience in the insurance industry, and I’ve loved it so far. I think pursuing a career in that would be very interesting. With a master’s, hopefully, it’ll set me up even better to have a lot more options.”
Her studies also have provided her with a different outlook on her approach to tennis matches.
“The big part of statistics that I love is the analysis, so I might not be into all the numbers, but once you get those, it’s about analyzing your population and figuring out key rules and being able to detect little things. I think I’ve applied that to anything in life. In terms of tennis, you’ve got to be able to scope out your opponents and realize some things that aren’t their strength that you can pick on.”
Last March, the U-M women’s tennis team had already arrived at their hotel in Pennsylvania for a match against Penn State when the news broke that their season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It was tough,” Craciun said. “It came as a shock, but basically we just had to cope the best way we could.”
With nationwide shutdowns and little access to tennis courts and gyms, getting in practice and workouts were not very feasible. Weeks passed before Canada began opening outdoor activities at controllable capacities.
It was then Craciun found herself getting enough reps in to at least keep her body in shape for whenever she would be able to get into a normal, collegiate practice schedule.
For the next couple of months, nothing about college was normal. The new virtual-learning environment provided an additional challenge to tackle, especially for the student-athlete who lives by a structured schedule.
“It was hard to transition to an online format and not have a schedule to stick by,” she said. “But I think we made the best of the situation. The athletic department did a great job and did the best that they could to support us during that time. Now that we’re back, they’re still doing the best they can with testing and making sure the facilities are taken care of. So, it’s been tough, but we’ve been fortunate in the way things have been handled.”
One year later, Craciun has been able to appreciate some of the changes this new lifestyle has brought. Asynchronous classes have allowed for more flexibility in terms of practice. She can watch recorded lectures now and go in early for practice, instead of having to physically be in class at a scheduled time.
As if college is not challenging enough, being an international student comes with its own unique obstacles. Through different clubs on campus, Craciun was able to meet with other international students on holidays when they could not be with their families.
“We got to meet a lot of different cultures. That was really cool to me –that they accepted everyone and made a community away from home,” she said. “Having that support was crucial for them and for me. It was so inspirational.”
Michigan has given Craciun much more than just the academic and athletic opportunities she came here seeking.
“Being a Wolverine has meant so much to me,” she said. “Michigan is such a big name and such a great place to be. I had heard all the positive things, but I never thought it was even more true than it seemed, especially in terms of the support student-athletes get and the opportunities to meet such incredible people — both athletes and non-athletes. It’s such a great academic school that you’re going to meet some brilliant people and they’re going to help you later on in life.
“That’s the best part about being a Wolverine: that community, that family of Michigan students, athletes and staff. Everyone is there to help you. You feel like you’re a part of this new family away from home. That’s the best part and my favorite part.”
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