CCIW Student-Athlete Spotlight (January 2020)
Each month, the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) will highlight the accomplishments of a conference student-athlete. This month, we look into the career of Carroll junior women's lacrosse player Michaela Johnson.

Story by Mike Krizman, CCIW Assistant Executive Director

WAUKESHA, Wis. – Carroll University’s Michaela Johnson had a calling during the summer of 2019.
 
Leaving her hometown of Mukwonago, Wisconsin, the junior women’s lacrosse player took that calling over 8,500 miles away to the people of South Africa.
 
According to Johnson, it was all about finding an identity while navigating through the rigors of being a college student-athlete.
 
“College students are really trying to find their identity and figure out what they want to do with their life,” Johnson said. I was that college student as well. I felt like God was calling me to take a semester off and just focus on my relationship with Him and make sure I was rooted in my own identity.”
 
Johnson took that calling and became part of the nonprofit organization Youth With A Mission (YWAM), a Christian missionary and outreach group that focuses on getting youth involved in missions. From there, she trained for three months in Hawaii before embarking on a two-and-a-half month journey in South Africa.
 
“We preached at the high schools and helped with after school care programs for kids who did not have a place to go after school,” Johnson said. “We also volunteered at orphanages and played games with the kids.”
 
But the biggest part of Johnson’s mission was giving hope to some of the poorest communities in and around the city of Cape Town.
 
“We went into the shanty towns to the indigenous African people, knocked on their doors and just sat in their living room and talked,” she said. “It was a very open conversation. We talked with them about anything, just to show that we cared about them.
 
“There’s not a lot of hope in these communities, Johnson continued. “Unfortunately, there’s a lot of abuse, sexual violence, gang violence, drugs and alcohol. So a lot of our conversations surrounded encouragement and saying ‘hey, we want to pray for you, but we also love you and care about you.’”
   
Following a debriefing in Hawaii, Johnson returned to Wisconsin in December with a new mindset and plan for the future.
 
Before her mission trip, Johnson was dead set on climbing the corporate ladder, but those plans changed when she heard the stories of the South African people.
 
“I wanted to work corporate, but now I really want to focus on a career in non-profit organizations,” she said. “South Africa is very much a woman-dominated country. I was able to listen to their hardships and struggles. My goal is to work for organizations that help women who went through a traumatic event; let them know that they are not forgotten.”
 
Earlier this month, Johnson stepped back on the Carroll campus for the first time in six months ready to conquer her new goals.

With that new mindset, Johnson returned to her Pioneer teammates ready to build upon the success of the last two seasons.
   
Carroll women’s lacrosse head coach Michael Hodge started the program in 2015. The team combined to go 6-42 in the first three seasons, but, behind a talented freshman class, the Pioneers improved to 13-4 in 2018, followed by 10-6 in 2019 and two-straight trips to the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Women’s Lacrosse Tournament.
 
Johnson earned back-to-back Second Team All-CCIW honors in her freshman and sophomore seasons, and she was one of four Pioneers to earn all-conference accolades in 2019, joining Clara Jelacic (First Team), Katie Majewski (Second Team) and Brittney Wald (First Team).
 
“I remember in high school coming to a game and I think we were down by 22,” Johnson said. “I started thinking ‘am I good enough to compete in such an intense conference like the CCIW?’ “But I think what really turned it around was that we knew we were the underdogs and we had the mentality of really putting in the effort; workouts at 5 a.m., practice in the afternoon.
 
“We were encouraging each other and creating a positive atmosphere. We knew we were only going to go up from there.”
 
Hodge agrees with those sentiments.
 
“I believe the main reason why our program has been able to find a better competitive balance is simply working hard,” he said. “Athletes like Michaela and many others on our current team, as well as, years past, know that anything worth achieving doesn’t come easy. Their time is limited and making the most out of each day is important.”
 
Johnson says she thrives in an environment where she's always busy.

That mindset has suited her well in her college education as a triple major in Business Administration, Spanish and Information Technology, while also managing her time as an athlete.
 
“I grew up always playing three sports,” she said. “In high school, I played three varsity sports, I was working and I had a full course load. So I came to college thinking ‘I’ve got this.’ I learned great time management skills along the way and it’s helped me the last two years. I know that I will always be better when I’m busy.”
 
At the NCAA Division III level, the student-athlete is celebrated and recognized for being well-rounded individuals and teammates – in the community, classroom and on the playing field.
 
Johnson personifies the Division III student-athlete according to Hodge.
 
“Michaela embodies Division III because she takes full advantage of the resources and opportunities provided to her,” Hodge said. “She is strong academically and athletically. However, she is a leader off the field and she is able to showcase all of her talents at a Division III institution. For as long as I have known MJ, I have never known her to waste a moment. She is driven, focused and unbelievably hard-working in all aspects of her life.”
 
The Pioneers open the 2020 season at Albion on February 22. For a full schedule of Carroll women’s lacrosse, visit the Carroll website at gopios.com.

CCIW Student-Athlete Spotlight
Michaela Johnson - Carroll (January 2020)
Luke Sawicki - Augustana (December 2019)
The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) was founded in 1946 and currently services nine member institutions including Augustana College (Rock Island, IL), Carroll University (Waukesha, WI), Carthage College (Kenosha, WI), Elmhurst College (Elmhurst, IL), Illinois Wesleyan University (Bloomington, IL), Millikin University (Decatur, IL), North Central College (Naperville, IL), North Park University (Chicago, IL) and Wheaton College (Wheaton, IL). During the 2018-19 academic year, the CCIW honored over 2,200 academic all-conference recipients, 18 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, 43 CoSIDA Academic All-District recipients, and over 100 all-Americans.