Final Reflection

Annie and I were presented with this super interesting opportunity of interning at Cleveland State University. I think the entire project ran very smoothly and we were able to make the most out of these 3 weeks. Our initial question was if certain sports got special treatment compared to other sports. On the first day of our project, we learned that the answer was an overwhelming yes. While this is to be expected, men's basketball received a lot more funding and overall attention than any other sport. The only sports events that are ticketed are men's basketball, women's basketball, and women's volleyball. Since it is most common for universities to receive funding from their football team, CSU is trying to make up for that in men's basketball since they do not have a football team. I believe the project was very successful from answering our essential questions to also just learning a lot of information about how their office and the departments within it function. Many of our tasks were dependent on what our mentor needed of us at the time. They started out primarily research-based, then they moved towards physical help we could give and basic tasks that could help people around the office. We also had the chance to sit in on a lot of Leslie's meetings and observe what those were like. While we were doing a lot around the office, I do think the one thing that was lacking from the project was that there were a few moments where we did not have anything to do. This project would definitely be more fulfilling if it was done at any other time of the year because during the summer all the sporting events are over and there was not as much we could help with since all the work was organizational. I think this would be a great project for students to complete next year during the winter because that is during basketball season. Then the interns would be able to help prepare and set up for games, which is one of the biggest tasks in the athletic department. The biggest takeaway Leslie wanted us to have was that every single task is important. She frequently used the example of rolling T-shirts. If the shirts are not rolled, there is nothing to throw for the T-shirt toss and therefore we could not complete any of the activities that go on during halftime. I think this will be something important to remember as I start to enter the workforce. If I had to give any advice to the upcoming seniors, I would tell them to not wait until the last minute (especially if they want to travel). This was a great experience for Annie and me and I am so greatly appreciative that Leslie was able to give us this opportunity.