Becoming a professional athlete was always the dream when I was growing up, but what young athlete doesn’t aspire to that? Every single basketball player has found themselves commentating on their own solo practice saying, “3…2…1….” to simulate the scenario where they’d be playing Game 7 of the NBA Finals with the final shot to win. I slowly came to the conclusion that I wouldn’t be able to realize that dream, but discovered there were other ways to be a part of a team other than as a player.
“My peers in MSBA 2016 are the type of people that I want to be around when I leave college. They challenge my thoughts and ideas constantly and aren’t afraid to tell me when I’m wrong. At the same time, they’re constructive and want to help everyone around them succeed.”
I had made a conscious decision before my freshman year of college that I wanted to end up in sports business. As my first two years went by, I began to think it wasn’t possible to start out in sports. I couldn’t find many internships that interested me, and began to heavily consider the finance route. I was mindlessly scrolling through my school’s career website when I came across the MSBA application. I remember reading the description and thinking it was too good to be true. Following a look at the website, an interview with Lorne, and a phone call with an MSBA alum, I found myself exactly where I wanted to be.
With 24 other kids all signed up to live together in the MSBA Dorms, I was feeling eerily similar to how I felt before my freshman year of college: unsure, nervous, and skeptical. Before long, it was obvious that every single kid had many similarities that brought us all to MSBA. We are all like-minded in that we are ambitious, passionate about sports, and determined to succeed.
It started out with the Inaugural MSBA Hot Wing Challenge at Buffalo Wild Wings the first night, when we became fast friends by embarrassing ourselves thoroughly with wing sauce all over our faces. What followed was a respect for each other and each individual’s career goals; as the weeks went by, I slowly learned why every single person was special and why he or she was accepted into this program.
Last week, I had a meeting with the CFO at FanDuel with our other company interns, and one of his biggest points was that it’s not where you work, but with whom you work that’s important. My peers in MSBA 2016 are the type of people that I want to be around when I leave college. They challenge my thoughts and ideas constantly and aren’t afraid to tell me when I’m wrong. At the same time, they’re constructive and want to help everyone around them succeed. They are team-oriented, just like professional athletes are. There is a common goal among us all: to find success in the sports business world. With this program, we have met an incredible amount of professionals who are willing to help us get there, and once we do, we will all have each other to support and hopefully change the business we are so passionate about in a positive way
The dream has certainly changed as the years have gone by, but the theme is the same: sports. While I won’t get to hit that game winning shot in Game 7, I can say that MSBA has shown me a clear path to get to be a part of a team with the player that does hit that shot. If I’m lucky enough to be celebrating with that player, I’ll have to show him this blog post down the road. Lebron James Jr. I’m looking at you!