In high school, my varsity baseball coach stressed the importance of viewing our 20-game season in quarters, and that we should focus on winning each quarter of the season – each brought with it different sets of circumstances. Although this plan didn’t pan out too well over my three years of varsity baseball, I took this approach to heart, understanding that a long journey is not about winning an individual battle, but winning the entire war.
Fast-forward three years (and one month, to be exact), far removed from my playing days, to June 25, 2017 – the end of the first quarter of our MSBA journey. In reflecting upon these first two weeks, I’m astonished by what we have accomplished in what has seemed like so little time. What’s even more astonishing is that – in all facets of our MSBA experience – we are only scratching the surface.
“The multidimensional nature of the program initially attracted me, and after further research I realized that’s precisely what sets MSBA apart. Up to this point, the ceiling of my expectations has been totally shattered.”
MSBA has been on my radar since the fall of 2014, my first semester at Villanova. From the moment I first read about the program (courtesy of a Jason Belzer article in Forbes), I knew this was the complete package and the perfect fit for me. The multidimensional nature of the program initially attracted me, and after further research I realized that’s precisely what sets MSBA apart. Up to this point, the ceiling of my expectations has been totally shattered.
While going through the Internship Placement process, I was looking for a place where I could make a daily impact in a variety of ways. At Radegen Sports Management, I have been able to do just that. Everyone at Radegen has been more than willing to not only guide me, but to challenge me too. What has struck me the most is how everyone has openly welcomed me and the three other interns into Radegen’s family-like culture. We were even welcomed to join their corporate league softball team, and I was able to contribute toward winning our first game of the season last week. Every day has brought with it a different agenda, and – coupled with the agency’s tight-knit culture – I can say with complete honesty that every morning I am excited to wake up and go to work for Radegen.
One of my main goals coming into this summer was to keep an open mind; I knew doing so would allow me to get the most out of the Speaker Series, the Office Field Trips, my Mentorship Collective, and my relationships with my MSBA comrades. So far – with the right attitude and mindset – that objective has been met, resulting in a bevy of valuable lessons and new knowledge that I couldn’t even have imagined two weeks ago. After taking the day to reflect on how to best compile all that I have learned, I came up with my top three takeaways in the first quarter of MSBA 2017:
- Building Relationships: MSBA has simplified my approach to networking to just being social and making new friends, rather than trying to utilize people for their connections. Moreover, I am beginning to understand the need to focus on my relationships with my MSBA classmates, since we will be growing in this business together.
- Creating Value: I have learned the importance of this is two-fold. First, it’s thinking about how I can be of value to what others are trying to accomplish, whether it’s professionally or personally. Also, creating value extends into the marketplace, as I need to figure out how to use my skills – or develop new ones – to fill a void in the industry and set myself apart.
- Preparation and Persistence: I thought I understood the importance of these concepts before MSBA. Now that the stakes are higher, I’ve come to value them at a much higher level and have kept them at the forefront of my mind.
Time flies when you are having fun, and it’s safe to chalk up the first quarter in the “W” column. Fortunately for us, there are still three quarters left of MSBA 2017, so this war is far from over. After a relaxing Sunday of church, Yankees baseball and New York pizza, I am recharged and eager to see what lies ahead in the second quarter.