[Limbo to Range Career Log] Min, you type so fast!

Job #6: College Athletics Office Intern

Things did not work out well at the last couple weeks of from Job #4. Our team received a message from the head coach in the last week of season saying he is leaving the team. I later had a chance to catch up with him at a local bar, yet I wasn't brave enough to ask him why he left the position - I wasn't afraid of him, I just felt he's like a huge mountain.

It was Friday, beginning of Fall quarter, and I clearly recall this - I was crying in front of my AD (athletic director). I don't think I had a great relationship with the incoming coach either so I asked my AD if I could quit and found something else to do.

"You gotta be strong young man, you don't always have to be nice."

That was the one of the most valuble tips that I got from my AD and it wasn't too hard to decide to join as an unpaid office intern in the following week.

What was my duty?

The fun part: I supported A to Z including game day prep, accounting, marketing, reconciling financial documents, estimating away game per diem, almost everything that's happening in the backdoor that most of student-athletes and coaches did not know.

What did I learn?

I recevied unexpected kudos from the other intern from the master's in intercollegiate athletics leadership program - the program that I really wanted to be admitted! I did not know that it was a big of a deal that I type fast. Then, I realized there's this relative comparison that exists between anyone or any situation. I may not be someone who is a pro-gamer type of person; on the other hand, I can definitely produce 1-pager faster than anyone. The kudos boosted my confidence level and the analogy seemed working so far whenever I stumble on steep learning curves.

How I applied what I learned from this experience to my current/future roles?

I believe in risk taking. If things are not going well and you have a gut to try something new (I had zero experience in higher ed administration and athletics offfice operations). Even if it's an unpaid position, the experiences that you would get is much more valuable than what you think. So try it out, see if it works out, and if it doesn't, perhaps try something else.