Morley Stanwood grad Carey Yukich shares her journey

Joe Judd, joe.judd@pioneergroup.com

Push Through: Former Mohawk standout penning motivational book

BIG RAPIDS In both sports and in life, everyone gets thrown obstacles, but the key is figuring out how to manage them and persevere nonetheless.

While that is easier said than done, former Morley Stanwood Mohawk Carey Yukich has done exactly that, and is in the process of penning her own story, with the hope that others can succeed and use her journey as ongoing motivation to do so.

Yukich, along with co-author Hawley Woods Gray, are putting the finishing touches on their book: Push Through: Your Ultimate Success Playbook, which is currently available for pre-order and is expected to be released digitally in early to mid-October.

She said she hopes the publishing of the book will help inspire others to overcome adversity and various roadblocks that occur and are frequent in sports and life in general.

The concept is: Push through those types of overwhelming feelings and steps and do them anyway, Yukich said. Theres a lot more to it, but that was really the motivation for me to even begin writing this book.

Having moved a dozen times in her youth, Yukich and her family came to the Big Rapids area halfway through the 1985 academic year, where she soon settled in as a three-sport Mohawk athlete, playing volleyball, basketball and softball.

Just talking through athletics and what Ive learned and experienced through athletics and the traits that helped me make that jump have helped me be successful throughout the rest of my life, Yukich said.

While the trifecta of sports kept her occupied, volleyball was always her go-to activity, so much so that she was also a member of a club volleyball team within the Big Rapids Area Volleyball Organization (BRAVO), where she excelled under the coaching of Beth Launiere.

At the time, Launiere was an assistant coach for Ferris States volleyball team.

Launiere will be writing a testimonial for Push Through, and has since gone on to coach the University of Utahs volleyball squad, where she is about to embark on her 31st season, and has amassed nearly 600 collegiate victories.

I very much benefited from the coaching and that opportunity, Yukich said. We traveled across the state of Michigan and also to Chicago every year for a national tournament that attracted teams from all over the country most importantly for me, it attracted college coaches. That was a pretty big deal for a little-town Morley-Stanwood girl.

Upon receiving acclaim and notoriety for her build and skill set, especially during the many tournaments played in the Windy City, Yukich was subsequently awarded a full athletic scholarship to play collegiate volleyball at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

Transitioning from a relatively small and nationally unknown pocket of Michigan to competing in a Division I sport in the Big Ten Conference was initially a lot to take in for Yukich, even after putting in months of preparation before arriving on campus in the fall of 89.

It was incredibly overwhelming and very scary, not just because of the athletics, but because of the academics, Yukich said.

Yukich said coming to Northwestern was similar to her arrival at Morley Stanwood just a few years prior, and was met with a few challenges during her first days with the volleyball team, but still managed to stay the course.

Despite the increase in pace and skill level, along with shifting positions from middle hitter to setter, Yukich stuck around and competed in one of, if not the toughest conferences for college volleyball.

Along with the book, Yukich and Woods Gray are also coming out with a companion Daily Push Journal, that will also be made available for purchase at the same time as the book.

Yukich said the idea is for the readers to follow along and chart their own personal path, whether it mirrors her own life or not.

At the end of reading this book, individuals if they fully participate should have a customized playbook for how theyre going to go forward and reach higher levels of success for themselves, Yukich said. At the end of every chapter, theres an exercise that culminates with an assessment and an outline of their particular gameplan.

For more information on Yukich or Woods Gray, or to pre-order a copy of the book, visit: pushthroughbook.com

See the article here:
Push Through: Former Mohawk standout penning motivational book - The Pioneer