April 20, 2016 -- One of the topics to discuss in our final reflections about our mentorship has to do with how this experience has influenced our career objectives. Two of the possible avenues I would like to venture into after graduation are getting into the professional sports world, or with the athletic department at an NCAA member institution. This whole mentorship has definitely confirmed and influenced how I feel about working within an athletic department. I have coached club basketball and even at the high school level, so I have had some exposure to how an athletic department is run, albeit at a smaller scale.
One of the reasons I wanted this mentorship was to see the inner workings and activities that an NCAA athletic department has to conduct in order to function and thrive. In the beginning, I asked my mentor to give me the opportunity to see how the department conducted business as a whole, and also how each varsity sport worked under this umbrella. He followed through on this, and I was able to gain new knowledge about the whole department and also each sport that I received exposure to. There is a lot that goes on between the recruiting portion to the actual NCAA athletic contests, and I had the chance to get a closer look at this. The experience has confirmed my wishes to work in this field. I enjoyed working behind the scenes to make sure the whole department carried out its business properly, and also enjoyed the process of each varsity sport. Working with my mentor, the department, and the coaches to make sure the student-athletes were in the best position to succeed was fun and insightful.
One of the reasons I wanted this mentorship was to see the inner workings and activities that an NCAA athletic department has to conduct in order to function and thrive. In the beginning, I asked my mentor to give me the opportunity to see how the department conducted business as a whole, and also how each varsity sport worked under this umbrella. He followed through on this, and I was able to gain new knowledge about the whole department and also each sport that I received exposure to. There is a lot that goes on between the recruiting portion to the actual NCAA athletic contests, and I had the chance to get a closer look at this. The experience has confirmed my wishes to work in this field. I enjoyed working behind the scenes to make sure the whole department carried out its business properly, and also enjoyed the process of each varsity sport. Working with my mentor, the department, and the coaches to make sure the student-athletes were in the best position to succeed was fun and insightful.