UW-Parkside Sports Career Day
Student Perspectives Series: Each semester, students of the Comm 350 (Digital Storytelling) class pick a campus event to create a multimedia review. Comm 350 is taught by Professor Anjuli Brekke and teaches students multimedia content creation skills. Through hands-on practice, students learn to put theories into action and to become a creative and effective storyteller in the digital media world.
During a rainy day on the 13th of October, University of Wisconsin-Parkside hosted its 2nd Annual Sports Career Day event at the UW-Parkside Sports and Activity Center.
This event helped Parkside students, who are looking for a future career in sports, learn and get prepared for future job or internship opportunities after they graduate. This event included an internship panel, a speech from the Sport Management Alumnus of the Year, resume reviews, mock interviews, and networking with multiple sport organizations from Wisconsin and Northeastern Illinois.
The event led off with the internship panel. The panel gave students information on finding internships while in college or after college. This included information about how to earn yourself a spot as an intern at an organization, the qualities and characteristics you need to have in order to succeed as an intern, and how to leverage your experience as an intern to help you start your career.
After the panel, UW-Parkside’s 2023 Sport Management Alumnus of the Year Award winner Ryne Goralski stepped up to the plate, pun intended. Ryne was a former sport management student athlete at UW-Parkside and he is now the General Manager of the Kenosha Kingfish, which is a baseball organization. He was recognized, obviously, for his success in the field, but he also was recognized for his involvement in Parkside’s sports management program, offering students internships and being part of campus activities. Ryne talked about his experiences as a student and as the General Manager of the Kingfish. He also talked about his biggest takeaways and the steps it took to find success. Thankfully, we were fortunate to talk to Ryne, asking him a few questions.
When asked about his favorite thing that the sport management program helped him prepare for his career, he said, “I think it was the challenges the program presented to me. There are a lot of classes where there’s lectures and note-taking, but what helped me improve most were the classes with projects and teamwork because I would be surrounded by professors and classmates that challenged me to be my best.”
Next we asked about how the sport management program helped him find work after college, he added, “Definitely the networking. Having class speakers from former alumni and people who worked in the sports field was valuable.”
After the lunch break, attendees were able to talk to all the organizations that showed up, face-to-face. This is where all the attending organizations set up their own stations in the gym and students can go from table to table asking questions and gaining information from the organizations. Some of these people represented the Chicago Bulls, Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, Jellystone Park, and more. There were over 15 representatives! Even Parkside’s communication department was there, informing students of the new sports communication program that they are now offering.
While students were going around and learning, they also had the option to seek peer review advice on what to inform those who were hiring. This entailed mock interviews and resume reviews. In order to help kids build a resume that stands out, the event had people review their resumes and give feedback on what is good and needs improvement. The mock interviews were very productive as well. Preparing and showing up for an interview for a job or internship that you want can be very nerve-wracking, these mock interviews help give students confidence and what to prepare for when getting ready for a job interview.