University of Tennessee Athletics
Photo by: Caleb Jones/Tennessee Athletics
Graham Leads, Gives Light, by Investing in Humanity
May 20, 2020 | Swimming & Diving
By Dom Palumbo, UTsports.com
"One that beareth a torch shadoweth oneself to give light to others."
This is the Volunteer Creed.
A dozen words that Tennessee students live by every day.
It signals, in part, that those who carry privilege in a situation have a responsibility to help guide those who do not.
For senior swimmer Madison Graham, her time at UT has been defined by the Volunteer Creed. She is constantly working and giving, not for herself, but for the countless people she has impacted and changed throughout her experience as a Lady Vol.
A member of the 2018 cohort of the VOLeaders Academy, and the current president of Tennessee's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Graham was initially required to give her time for others.
However, as she progressed as a collegiate athlete with an already busy schedule, giving back became something she developed a desire for making time for.
"I've always done community service," Graham said. "There were a few programs I was in that required it, so to be honest, that's probably what got the ball rolling. When I was in VOLeaders my sophomore year, volunteering was a small requirement of the class, but that's when I began to actually appreciate it. After that point, it never really felt like a requirement to me. It was something I enjoyed doing.
"The short version is that because it didn't feel like a requirement, it wasn't about finding time, it was about when I could get to do it."
A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Graham—the daughter of former UT men's swimmer Bart Graham—at the beginning of her recruiting process didn't initially see Knoxville as her dream destination. Yet, there was something about the place and the swimming & diving program that eventually pulled her in.
"If you had asked me my sophomore year of high school (if I would've gone to Tennessee), I would've said 'No way,'" Graham recalled. "Then I started talking to Tennessee—it came down to it, I took my recruiting trip in the Fall and I remember the day our assistant coach Ashley (Jahn) offered me during the trip. I remember the intersection I was at. I don't know what happened, but I went from not being interested at all to it being amazing.
"Ultimately, I couldn't imagine myself anywhere else," Graham continued. "For all of the other things the other schools had, I just couldn't imagine myself anywhere else. I've also known (Director of Swimming & Diving Matt Kredich) for a while, and the program just offered things that I was really excited about. It was clear from the outset that the team's values and how they operate is how I want to live my life."
After arriving on Rocky Top, a bit of a rocky freshman campaign left Graham wondering what would be next and how she would be able to further progress as a collegiate athlete.
Then, as her sophomore year got underway, an opportunity to grow both in and out of the pool presented itself—the chance to be a part of the 2018 cohort of the VOLeaders leadership academy.
"For me personally, going into that year, I was in a place with my sport where I was getting frustrated. Especially with swimming—even though our team is focused on swimming for others and our team—ultimately, it's you and the pool. And I was at a point where I was so concerned with myself, so that year was a great opportunity for me to learn about my strengths as a leader, but more importantly, we identified who we are as people. I think that was really important for me to identify and be thankful for who I am, my sport aside, and how I can help people that way."
She was shown that her experience as a Lady Vol goes far beyond the confines of the pool and that her impact is not solely limited to UT and the city of Knoxville.
As the 2017-18 academic year concluded, her VOLeaders family ventured to Ecuador to further build on everything it had already learned in the classroom, while gaining a new and holistic perspective about the privileged lives they were leading.
"The trip to Ecuador just built on (everything)," Graham said. "We have world-class facilities, and the theme of the year was learning about adaptive sport. So, we spent time learning about how to play certain sports if one your abilities was taken away. We played a lot of those sports in Ecuador, and it was amazing to me that no matter what ability people had, they were doing sport for the fun of it. It wasn't a life or death situation, they were just enjoying the moment and every person we met, they were just incredibly happy and grateful people. I think if you asked anyone in our class, that's what we walked away with… a new sense of gratitude and a realization for how you can appreciate things for what they are in the moment."
That same year, Graham also got involved in Tennessee's branch of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).
What began as a chance to simply develop a voice in the experiences she was living, turned into a continued opportunity to give back to the place that had given her so much.
"I've been on SAAC since my sophomore year," Graham said. "I took a leadership position last year. Then, I ran for co-president this year. I started the year with Ryan Johnson as my co-president. I think ultimately, I like the understanding of how things work. And it's also given me a huge appreciation for what goes into making our experiences what they are. Just to see the inner workings and to see how dedicated the administration is, especially to our well-being. It's really easy to not understand or even begin to know how that's all happening, because that's a sign that they're doing a good job."
In essence, SAAC acts as the liaison between the student-athletes and the university, allowing them to voice any concerns they may have regarding their experience at UT.
After taking the reins of SAAC, Graham enacted a number of positive changes, with one instance in particular becoming something she will leave the organization being the proudest of.
"One of the things I'm most proud of that we came up with this year, is that someone in the group came up with the idea to do a mental health training with the coaches about once a month," Graham said. "Many of the coaches do care about our well-being, but to no fault of their own, they don't know what to look for, because they're on teams with 10, 20 or even 80 student-athletes and everybody's different. And their jobs are big jobs. So, we took it to the administration and they really liked the idea. Hopefully, what it's going to look like is a 15-20-minute session after their monthly staff meetings to just go over various things related to mental health, such as signs to look for.
"This has become a huge focus in the NCAA in general. Not many student-athletes would blame their coaches at all, but it's an important topic. We have great resources for helping student-athletes, but it's sometimes hard to identify who actually needs that help. So, any way the coaches can help is really great."
Graham, an Anthropology major with a concentration in Disasters, Displacements and Human Rights, leaves UT with a near-perfect GPA and an internship inside the Department of Agriculture in Washington D.C., where she will begin work in August.
She will work primarily with the Foreign Trade and International Agriculture office, in hopes of gaining more experience, while using everything she's learned about different people and cultures during her time at UT to further advance her career.
"Even though agriculture isn't something I envisioned myself in, it still in so many ways relates to what I've learned in terms of emergency management and basic human rights," Graham said. "Food is at the basis of that.
"Ultimately, my dream is to work in possibly one of the state departments, but I'm really interested in the UN and positions like that, because for as much heat as those organizations take, they're very sound in their beliefs in that the reason for their creation was to help and protect people. And I would really like to do that in any way I can and do it effectively.
"That's part of the reason why I put so much time and work into my anthropology, because it's given me a really good way to understand people before I earn the responsibility to be more directly involved in the respect and safety of their lives all around the world."
Understanding people.
It is this that has allowed Graham to achieve so much in just four short years in Knoxville.
Through her struggles in the pool, this perspective allowed her to continue to be a great leader and teammate in practice, meets, team meetings and everyday interactions to help lead the 2019-20 Lady Vols to the program's first ever SEC Swimming & Diving Championship.
This perspective allowed her to find a passion of giving back in any way she could.
"I think service is a really good way to get outside yourself and help to think about others when we're so engrained in our schedules and our routines," Graham said. "For me personally, if I have the opportunity to make someone's day better, I'm going to take it."
Graham leaves Tennessee with more than 225 community service hours, earning her the Gold Service Medallion, becoming the first-ever Tennessee student-athlete to earn the honor.
She was also awarded as a winner of an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, earning her $10,000. It's an honor only given to just 126 NCAA athletes across all three divisions each year.
She departs Rocky Top as an embodiment of the Volunteer Creed, finding joy in the small moments her time with others creates over and over again.
"I have lived a fortunate life, and especially so during my time at UT," Graham said. "But there are people all around the world, and who live in our own communities living very different experiences. I enjoy service, not because I think these hours I have committed to it are going to change the world, but because each opportunity is a chance to possibly brighten someone's day, even just a little. Community service is so important, because it is an opportunity to give back to, connect with and invest in humanity in any way we can."
"One that beareth a torch shadoweth oneself to give light to others."
This is the Volunteer Creed.
A dozen words that Tennessee students live by every day.
It signals, in part, that those who carry privilege in a situation have a responsibility to help guide those who do not.
For senior swimmer Madison Graham, her time at UT has been defined by the Volunteer Creed. She is constantly working and giving, not for herself, but for the countless people she has impacted and changed throughout her experience as a Lady Vol.
A member of the 2018 cohort of the VOLeaders Academy, and the current president of Tennessee's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Graham was initially required to give her time for others.
However, as she progressed as a collegiate athlete with an already busy schedule, giving back became something she developed a desire for making time for.
"I've always done community service," Graham said. "There were a few programs I was in that required it, so to be honest, that's probably what got the ball rolling. When I was in VOLeaders my sophomore year, volunteering was a small requirement of the class, but that's when I began to actually appreciate it. After that point, it never really felt like a requirement to me. It was something I enjoyed doing.
"The short version is that because it didn't feel like a requirement, it wasn't about finding time, it was about when I could get to do it."
A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Graham—the daughter of former UT men's swimmer Bart Graham—at the beginning of her recruiting process didn't initially see Knoxville as her dream destination. Yet, there was something about the place and the swimming & diving program that eventually pulled her in.
"If you had asked me my sophomore year of high school (if I would've gone to Tennessee), I would've said 'No way,'" Graham recalled. "Then I started talking to Tennessee—it came down to it, I took my recruiting trip in the Fall and I remember the day our assistant coach Ashley (Jahn) offered me during the trip. I remember the intersection I was at. I don't know what happened, but I went from not being interested at all to it being amazing.
"Ultimately, I couldn't imagine myself anywhere else," Graham continued. "For all of the other things the other schools had, I just couldn't imagine myself anywhere else. I've also known (Director of Swimming & Diving Matt Kredich) for a while, and the program just offered things that I was really excited about. It was clear from the outset that the team's values and how they operate is how I want to live my life."
After arriving on Rocky Top, a bit of a rocky freshman campaign left Graham wondering what would be next and how she would be able to further progress as a collegiate athlete.
Then, as her sophomore year got underway, an opportunity to grow both in and out of the pool presented itself—the chance to be a part of the 2018 cohort of the VOLeaders leadership academy.
"For me personally, going into that year, I was in a place with my sport where I was getting frustrated. Especially with swimming—even though our team is focused on swimming for others and our team—ultimately, it's you and the pool. And I was at a point where I was so concerned with myself, so that year was a great opportunity for me to learn about my strengths as a leader, but more importantly, we identified who we are as people. I think that was really important for me to identify and be thankful for who I am, my sport aside, and how I can help people that way."
She was shown that her experience as a Lady Vol goes far beyond the confines of the pool and that her impact is not solely limited to UT and the city of Knoxville.
As the 2017-18 academic year concluded, her VOLeaders family ventured to Ecuador to further build on everything it had already learned in the classroom, while gaining a new and holistic perspective about the privileged lives they were leading.
"The trip to Ecuador just built on (everything)," Graham said. "We have world-class facilities, and the theme of the year was learning about adaptive sport. So, we spent time learning about how to play certain sports if one your abilities was taken away. We played a lot of those sports in Ecuador, and it was amazing to me that no matter what ability people had, they were doing sport for the fun of it. It wasn't a life or death situation, they were just enjoying the moment and every person we met, they were just incredibly happy and grateful people. I think if you asked anyone in our class, that's what we walked away with… a new sense of gratitude and a realization for how you can appreciate things for what they are in the moment."
That same year, Graham also got involved in Tennessee's branch of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).
What began as a chance to simply develop a voice in the experiences she was living, turned into a continued opportunity to give back to the place that had given her so much.
"I've been on SAAC since my sophomore year," Graham said. "I took a leadership position last year. Then, I ran for co-president this year. I started the year with Ryan Johnson as my co-president. I think ultimately, I like the understanding of how things work. And it's also given me a huge appreciation for what goes into making our experiences what they are. Just to see the inner workings and to see how dedicated the administration is, especially to our well-being. It's really easy to not understand or even begin to know how that's all happening, because that's a sign that they're doing a good job."
In essence, SAAC acts as the liaison between the student-athletes and the university, allowing them to voice any concerns they may have regarding their experience at UT.
After taking the reins of SAAC, Graham enacted a number of positive changes, with one instance in particular becoming something she will leave the organization being the proudest of.
"One of the things I'm most proud of that we came up with this year, is that someone in the group came up with the idea to do a mental health training with the coaches about once a month," Graham said. "Many of the coaches do care about our well-being, but to no fault of their own, they don't know what to look for, because they're on teams with 10, 20 or even 80 student-athletes and everybody's different. And their jobs are big jobs. So, we took it to the administration and they really liked the idea. Hopefully, what it's going to look like is a 15-20-minute session after their monthly staff meetings to just go over various things related to mental health, such as signs to look for.
"This has become a huge focus in the NCAA in general. Not many student-athletes would blame their coaches at all, but it's an important topic. We have great resources for helping student-athletes, but it's sometimes hard to identify who actually needs that help. So, any way the coaches can help is really great."
Graham, an Anthropology major with a concentration in Disasters, Displacements and Human Rights, leaves UT with a near-perfect GPA and an internship inside the Department of Agriculture in Washington D.C., where she will begin work in August.
She will work primarily with the Foreign Trade and International Agriculture office, in hopes of gaining more experience, while using everything she's learned about different people and cultures during her time at UT to further advance her career.
"Even though agriculture isn't something I envisioned myself in, it still in so many ways relates to what I've learned in terms of emergency management and basic human rights," Graham said. "Food is at the basis of that.
"Ultimately, my dream is to work in possibly one of the state departments, but I'm really interested in the UN and positions like that, because for as much heat as those organizations take, they're very sound in their beliefs in that the reason for their creation was to help and protect people. And I would really like to do that in any way I can and do it effectively.
"That's part of the reason why I put so much time and work into my anthropology, because it's given me a really good way to understand people before I earn the responsibility to be more directly involved in the respect and safety of their lives all around the world."
Understanding people.
It is this that has allowed Graham to achieve so much in just four short years in Knoxville.
Through her struggles in the pool, this perspective allowed her to continue to be a great leader and teammate in practice, meets, team meetings and everyday interactions to help lead the 2019-20 Lady Vols to the program's first ever SEC Swimming & Diving Championship.
This perspective allowed her to find a passion of giving back in any way she could.
"I think service is a really good way to get outside yourself and help to think about others when we're so engrained in our schedules and our routines," Graham said. "For me personally, if I have the opportunity to make someone's day better, I'm going to take it."
Graham leaves Tennessee with more than 225 community service hours, earning her the Gold Service Medallion, becoming the first-ever Tennessee student-athlete to earn the honor.
She was also awarded as a winner of an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, earning her $10,000. It's an honor only given to just 126 NCAA athletes across all three divisions each year.
She departs Rocky Top as an embodiment of the Volunteer Creed, finding joy in the small moments her time with others creates over and over again.
"I have lived a fortunate life, and especially so during my time at UT," Graham said. "But there are people all around the world, and who live in our own communities living very different experiences. I enjoy service, not because I think these hours I have committed to it are going to change the world, but because each opportunity is a chance to possibly brighten someone's day, even just a little. Community service is so important, because it is an opportunity to give back to, connect with and invest in humanity in any way we can."
Players Mentioned
IM/Free/Back
/ Swimming & DivingEverything Orange S2 | Dave Parrington (Swimming & Diving)
Thursday, May 01
Everything Orange S2 | Matt Kredich (Swimming & Diving)
Thursday, September 05
S&D | Mona McSharry Feature
Tuesday, March 19
Everything Orange | Camille Spink (Swim & Dive)
Thursday, February 29
