Autumn Quarter Reflection

Oh Autumn Quarter….I am ready to be over you! The Bid project was a stressor and beneficial in a multitude of ways. It is VERY difficult to communicate with classmates all over the U.S. with the kind of schedules we are keeping. Not only do we have people participating in various types of internships, but time schedules, and different time zones! But what a great accomplishment when we were all done!! Nobody’s project was perfect, but I feel very confident in the marketing plan The Real Charlotte Group turned in.

Internship wise – I’m starting to realize where I don’t want to be in athletics, at least not right now, rather than where I want to be. I’m learning just exactly how NOT to lead, but not necessarily learning how to lead better. Through my own readings I’m learning how to lead, and observing my classmates. It’s so much about how you handle situations, what you do with adversity, and the respect you give people from the start. In my internship there are a couple examples of people I observe and can’t comprehend their methods. There is no cultivation of leadership for them. Some people are so narrowly focused they lose sight of the big picture and what’s important. Innovation is what keeps things alive and in certain parts of athletics (that I’ve observed in my internship) that aspect is lost, and the continued cycle of negativity continues. My goal in my next job is to change that.

Two themes that I see spread throughout my experiences in the field are that college sports are a form of entertainment and the severe lack of leadership throughout college athletics which is supposed to be based on leadership or help develop leaders.

Facility Enhancement Reflection

After these two facility assignments, I don’t know that I ever want to think about improvements to Conibear Shellhouse again. Just being honest as John Moss often says. The part I enjoyed most about this assignment I think was learning the history behind the facilities we researched, not exactly the enhancements themselves. I find the history to be fascinating, especially how the facility has morphed and changed over the years. My facility was difficult because it has so many different uses and attracts so many different groups it was hard to narrow down to a couple specific groups and keep within the page limits for the assignment.

I think I would be more enthralled with a enhancement proposal process and research if it was a facility I really cared about and wanted change. That is when we do our best work at anything right? When we are passionate about something. I was never truly passionate about enhancing Conibear, so it was difficult to really think of enhancements that wouldn’t just be superficial and a great addition but essential. In the end with some research and interviews I was able to come up with some good ideas, but mine alone were not really getting at ways to truly improve the facility.

Festival Bid Reflection / Assignment Prompt

The facilities project completion = Shelby Ramirez a lot more happy! The facilities project was a tough experience, but beneficial. It was hard to believe how much planning goes into one single Festival, and what aspects need to be considered. I would never want to plan an actual Festival myself. After doing several hours and days of research on Charlotte, NC though, I believe Charlotte is a place I would like to visit, and possibly live someday. Charlotte does have A LOT!

Though I am fairly certain I will not be going into any job that has to deal with Facilities as the primary focus of the job, as we’ve learned throughout this class and our internships – athletics is all encompassing. The more knowledge you have or just even awareness of other departments and how the ICA works as whole is beneficial. This is one theme that has emerged across all courses and in the actual work field.

I’ve learned that when it comes to the handling of facilities and running of events I am better equipped as a follower than a leader. I don’t have as much confidence in my ability to plan the use of facilitations at this point, but believe that I could handle staffing a home competition. As I did with the Husky Hall of Fame in October, I also feel very confident in my ability to assist the planning of a huge school event, thanks to my internship.