Albion College encourages its students to seek experiential learning opportunities – such as internships and conferences – to explore career options and make contacts.
For Albion Student-Athlete Advisory Committee President Jodie Bosheers, '18, experiential learning included a trip to Indianapolis to participate in the NCAA's Career in Sports Forum. Bosheers was one of more than 230 student-athletes, all with an interest in working in the sports industry, presented with a broader scope of the career tracks available within the sports business, with the primary focus on college athletics. The forum provided student-athletes interactive experiences with successful individuals in the sports business and a peek into their day-to-day duties and responsibilities.
"I went to Indianapolis with 100 questions, and I got those answered, but I came away with 200 more," Bosheers, a mathematics major with a particular interest in actuarial science which she hopes could lead to a career in the advanced metrics exploding across the sports industry today. "I started to get outside my box – to look at potential careers and potential lifestyles."
Bosheers, who is also gaining experience in the sports industry as an intern with the United Shore Professional Baseball League this summer, is especially interested in a career at the collegiate level for the impact she can have on hundreds – potentially thousands – of student-athletes during her career.
"In his talk, Jason Burton, the head women's basketball coach at Texas A&M University-Commerce, reminded us that we are not choosing this career to get wins, but to consider the people we are creating," Bosheers said. "A career in intercollegiate athletics would allow me to touch people who will move on to do great things. To grow better people and a better society."
For now, Bosheers will work on crafting her unique, personal brand as she completes her senior year at Albion.
"I learned networking is a 24/7 process and people are always paying attention, no matter where you are," Bosheers said. "Organizations hire a person, not a resume. I want to focus on making impactful, genuine connections and to learn from people who are in the shoes I want to be in one day."
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