Traveling across the world is difficult enough, but attending college and playing volleyball in a foreign country would be much more daunting. Freshmen outside hitter Julie Mikaelsen has taken on that challenge in Madison, and she has handled it well. Mikaelsen has provided a spark for Wisconsin’s volleyball team, while adjusting to a new country and college life.
A couple years ago, Mikaelsen’s volleyball coach in Norway contacted one of Wisconsin’s assistant coaches, Colleen Bayer. Mikaelsen was interested in playing volleyball at an American university.
“I really wanted to go to a school in America, because I wanted to study and play volleyball so I’d have an education after I’m done playing volleyball,” Mikaelsen said.
Mikaelsen would have been a freshman at Madison last year, but due to complications with the NCAA, she wasn’t able to attend the university for another year. Because of the delays, the team has been in communication with her for the past few years.
“The team’s actually known her for quite a while,” Bayer said. “She was able to come on two different official visits which is kind of unusual, so they actually got to know Julie quite a bit in the two years that she was coming to us.”
There were obviously going to be challenges that Mikaelsen would have to face when leaving Norway for Madison.
“It’s really hard to transfer from playing volleyball in Norway to going here,” Mikaelsen said. “It’s talking English all the time. You wake up sometimes and the only thing I want to do is talk in Norwegian, but at the same time my teammates are really nice. They help me a lot to fit into the team, and that’s helped me a lot.”
At times, it has also been hard for Mikaelsen to communicate with her teammates on the court.
“When things get really moving quickly, she wants to speak in Norwegian,” Bayer said. “Obviously she knows she can’t get it, so she does get a little tongue-tied, but I think that’s getting better. She’s getting really good at giving directions in English.”
Mikaelsen has provided a new energy for the Badgers. On Sunday, she came off the bench to provide seven kills that helped Wisconsin get its first Big Ten victory.
“I think that she’s definitely brought an energy and a fire that we needed out of a position that we hadn’t really secured a solid starter,” sophomore Kirby Toon said. “She’s definitely brought an entire new type of play, and that’s helped make our team more dynamic.”
Toon was originally supposed to be Mikaelsen’s roommate last year until the NCAA made her wait another year, so Toon has been in contact with her for a long time.
“I knew her pretty well coming in, so she was more comfortable talking with me than with being with the whole group,” Toon said. “But now she’s definitely opened up and is very comfortable with the entire team, making jokes and being sarcastic.”
Despite some of the language and cultural differences, Mikaelsen has enjoyed her time here.
“I feel I’ve got a lot of friends, and school’s been going pretty good,” Mikaelsen said. “I just enjoy being here. I take it as an experience instead of thinking too much about missing home and just have fun.”
In terms of volleyball, Mikaelsen is also trying to adjust to a different style of play than what she’s used to in Norway. The main difference is the speed of play is much faster here than in Norway.
“In Norway it’s really slow [paced],” she said. “If I hit the ball the same way I hit it here in Norway, I’d probably get a kill every time, but here they pick it up like every single time.”
It’s tough for any freshman to leave home and adjust to college life. Mikaelsen has been impressive in the way she’s adjusted to American culture and a new brand of volleyball.
“It’s been hard, but at the same time it’s been a really big experience,” Mikaelsen said. “Because I play in the Field House in front of 6,000 people, I play with great people, and I really love the team. Overall it’s a really fun experience, but at the same time it’s hard, so it’s both hard and fun.”
