I am a Sport and Entertainment Management major with an anticipated graduation date of December 12, 2016. As my graduation date approaches quickly, I find myself feeling very anxious and excited but also nervous. After five and a half years of college and different experiences, I am finally about to enter the real world.  At this point in my life, I have come to the conclusion that I need to start to figure out what next step I want to take in starting my career. I have been very fortunate to have two incredible internships that have helped me grow and learn.  Both of these internships have been different which I found to be very helpful with my learning process because I was able to see how each organization went about their day to day operation.

My first internship was a Marketing Internship with Colonial Life Arena. At the time of taking this internship, it was a perfect fit for myself because I was still living in Columbia and the dynamic of Colonial Life Arena was not as intimidating as a professional sporting venue like the Lincoln Financial Field. This job taught me a lot about the marketing and public relations side of the sport and entertainment industry. I was fortunate enough to be hands on with this internship as it taught me a lot about how to handle different situations. The second internship that I will be completing in January 2017 is with the Philadelphia Eagles. During the last three months of interning with the Eagles, I have worked in the Ticketing and Fan Services Department where I was able to learn a lot. Not only did I learn about ticket operations and fan services but also how to work with different computer systems that are necessary to have knowledge of while working on this side of the industry. At first I felt as if I was not prepared for this position because I am rather impatient and never really like talking on the phone. I soon learned that everyone was in the same boat as me and I realized it was going to take some time to get the hang of.

After these two internships, I have felt that I have grown in not only my work ethic but my confidence in my work as well within the sport and entertainment industry. I have met a lot of great people along the way and I have learned so many things that I did not think were even possible. At the beginning each of my internships I felt as if I was not able to do a lot of my assigned tasks on my own. The biggest thing I came away with was that it takes time to adjust to things and once you do, you can accomplish the imaginable. My goal after these internships is to continue to work in the sport and entertainment industry whether it is with ticket operations, fan services, marketing or public relations. I truly would be happy in any of these departments as long as the organization is as positive and amazing as the organizations I have had the pleasure of working for.

I have not only learned so much about the sport and entertainment industry and all that goes in to hosting a major event, but I have learned a lot about myself as well. I have grown to understand how to go about my life on a day to day basis and that everything takes time. Being an intern is not easy because you want to just jump to the top of the totem pole and skip all of the little steps. But I know it is important to learn all of the bits and pieces of an organization before you can rise. I have also come to the realization that the connections made during these internships will in fact stay forever as long as you prove yourself and take advantage of what is right in front of you. Even though I am unsure where the wind will blow next, I am keeping my options open and willing to try something new.