MISSOULA — Allison Lawrence already has a plate that is plenty full as a Division I head coach of the Montana volleyball program and also as a wife and mother of two boys.
But in the spring of 2021, Lawrence embarked on a new, exciting journey as she began pursuing her doctorate in counseling education.
"I have a little 3-by-5 card in my desk that I wrote on, it was when I was an assistant, with four things that I want to accomplish in my life on them, and the doctorate was one of them," Lawrence said. "I didn't know what program. I knew kind of what areas, but I think it is just something to me that always felt like a symbol of lifelong learning and pursuing learning to the very last extent that I could."
It's a goal Lawrence has had since she was a young kid.
"I think we keep learning obviously outside of school, but it felt like a rigorous pursuit that would make me more alive and more awake and, yeah, just a better person in my job," she said.
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Lawrence is taking master's and doctorate level classes in counselor education alongside other students, is doing research and will likely defend her dissertation this spring.
She hopes to be poised to seek licensure and be able to see clients, but Lawrence will also be trained in research when she graduates, which is slated for spring of 2027. This could also lead to teaching opportunities.
"I think rather than getting really specific in any one area, it allows some broadening in a role on a college campus that I already love," Lawrence said. "So, it allows me to do some other things, which is really exciting.
"To me, school doesn't have to lead to anything in terms of jobs and money. It should be enriching, and that's kind of always the paths I've gone down with my education."
It's rare to see a coach at any level of any stature, let alone a head coach of a DI program, re-entering the educational world as a student while also balancing their ever-changing and growing responsibilities.
That is where Lawrence's support system comes in, from her family to the Grizzly volleyball team and program.
"She's constantly pushing and going and trying to better herself in those ways," said Nate Michael, Lawrence's husband. "And with what her degree and the extra schooling and what that would do for her coaching career and even beyond, we thought it was kind of a no-brainer.
"We knew with the scheduling and all of that stuff, getting that stuff to work is always a challenge, but it's kind of our M.O., so we kind of tackle that stuff pretty head-on. And our family dynamic has always been good."
Long-time assistant coach Dana Hallisey added that Lawrence's workload the past few years has been an easy adjustment, thanks to their strong bond and, importantly, communication.
"To see her be so interested in growing and learning and pushing herself again in ways that immediately impact our team for the positive and in ways that she has to sacrifice a lot for," Hallisey said. "This is extra time for her at a very high level program to put effort in and to want to be great. I think any Division I athlete, Division I coach, there's no part of you that's like, let me do this sub-par, you know?"
"I can't say enough about ... my children's, Nate's, my husband's, their sacrifice to sort of do this with me," Lawrence added. "It's not even allow me to do it. It's like, do this with me. I'll be grateful for that forever. And then I would say of the team and our staff, I hope that school is kind of my extra thing right now. I hope we're just all kind of learners together."
Lawrence's passion for coaching resides in seeing her players develop and grow not just as athletes, but as multi-dimensional people.
The players sometimes joke with Lawrence they might graduate with her, and Lawrence has even used lessons on how to orchestrate a group meeting from her studies to the team that addressed challenges and solutions to the greater goal.
"I felt that team meeting exercise really shaped our team identity, allowed us to discuss some things that were under the surface that we hadn't even acknowledged as a group from that past season or even into that spring," Lawrence said. "And then it really changed us, and I don't know that we would have had the results and the experience we did in the fall without that."
But for Hallisey, the impact Lawrence has had off the court in motherhood extends even further.
"That has been just a really sweet gift," Hallisey said. "And I am so grateful to be able to have entered this life stage under someone who's so supportive in that; and also someone who's so engaged in continuing to grow and learn about what supports coaches need in that arena to be great; and be there for their team and also be great and be there for their family and how to balance those kind of two impossible things."
"She's pretty strong-willed. And that comes from starting her coaching career and then becoming a Division I coach and then saying, hey, I want to go get my doctorate. I want to do this. I want to do that," Michael added. "I'm immensely proud of the work that she puts in for her, not just for herself, but it's for the team that she coaches. It's for the family and for everyone that she loves. And so the selflessness of it is pretty remarkable."
The on-court accomplishments have come, as Lawrence was the 2022 Big Sky Conference coach of the year and this past fall led the Griz to 17 wins, only the second time the volleyball program has achieved that since 1999.
But what she's getting off the court is invaluable.
"In athletics, when everything's measured, and then I've thrown myself into this student piece where there's grades and stuff, but it's more about personal growth and development. It has just totally shifted how I see myself as a coach," Lawrence said. "And I want to be measured, and I'm competitive, and of course I want to fight to win and get better and all those things, but I think the pursuit, the struggle, the growth pieces, those being the goal has meant the world to me."
