Senior Year Begins with a Jump into the “Real World”
Well… it’s happened… I have officially started my senior, and last, year at Vanderbilt University. Is it a bad thing that I was (and still am) extremely jealous of the freshman moving into their dorms a few weeks ago? Is it bad that I didn’t want everyone to come back to campus from their summer adventures because it meant that the year of “lasts” would have to start? I don’t think that it is a bad thing; I think it just shows how much I have come to love this school, the people here, the classes, the activities, the sports, the trees, the professors, and yes, maybe even the homework.
Over the past three years I have experienced some of the best and worst moments of my life, but it has culminated into a year that I am looking forward to, yet wanting to draw out as long as I can. Don’t get me wrong, I am so excited to move onto a new stage in a short nine months and venture out into the “real world,” but for now I am perfectly content soaking up everything Vanderbilt still has to offer me while I have the time!
And to make matters even more scary, for this whole semester I am going to be completing an internship for my major, Human and Organizational Development. Each HOD major must complete a semester long academic internship; working 32 hours a week, while also attending a class on Mondays and diagnosing the organization which we are working in.
Read on to learn more about my internship experience so far working in the sports industry…
This semester I am working at Athlon Sports Communications, Inc. They are a 43 year old sports company that has two main functions: publishing and marketing. I have the wonderful opportunity to work specifically in Events Marketing and with with our clients to provide them with the best possible sports experience they could dream of!
So far (with my 1 week of working for Athlon), I have already learned a lot about the industry, written the entire company newsletter, and began budgeting for events in Daytona and Washington DC. I was literally thrown right into the corporate world and have loved every second of it so far! Even though it is a little intimidating joining an organization as a stranger, I have been very well welcomed and am looking forward to the rest of my semester with Athlon.
Throughout all of my HOD courses leading up to the internship and Senior Project, I have been learning valuable information and theories about how organizations run, but I have also been taught how to get a job. This included lessons on how to write resumers, cover letters, present yourself, act professional, and we even conducted many practice interviews with business people from the outside Nashville community. I feel that the HOD Program has prepared me very well for anything that could be thrown at me while I am working for Athlon, while still being able to keep an eye on the health of the organization as a whole. All of the skills we will have acquired in and out of the classroom will help us to develop a Senior Project that we can add to our portfolio once we graduate, giving us a little extra boost next year when we are looking for a full-time job out in the “real world.”
Even throughout this first week, I am so thankful for the experience I am going to gain from this semester and the upper-hand it will reward me once I am competing with all of the other college graduates next year.
Feel free to contact me through comment or e-mail if you have any questions about the Human and Organizational Development program or the Internship semester!