Photo retrieved from google. The Final Week - 6 hours The end is here. My final week was spent doing a lot of small tasks and getting everything that I needed to for Dr. Hilliard squared away. I previously created a step-by-step guide for whoever has my job next year, I shared that and discussed it with Dr. Hilliard this week. After she received it, she shared some feedback and asked me to add some more things to it. I spent my time doing so and re-sending it to her. I also re-sent this list of women who helped promote the event via the spotlights, as she wanted to thank them personally. I previously sent them all a thank-you email and she thanked them during the event but as she shared with me you can never thank people too many times when they have helped out and given their time so freely. I also shared the evaluation survey link with her, and shared my feedback with her. Dr. Hilliard sent me some questions and wanted my feedback about what she could possibly do better, this was something I had never done in a professional setting so it was nice to share and know that my feedback can help them create a better experience for future volunteers. This mentorship opportunity was incredible, the knowledge and experience I gained in such a short time is immeasurable. I could not recommend this experience more to anyone looking for a internship/mentorship. Many of my tasks were the same each day or repetitive, I spent a lot of time checking emails and writing emails and overall just a lot of communicating. This is a skill one would need to feel comfortable and successful in this mentorship. This also made completing journals for this mentorship feel mundane or repetitive as well, I felt I did not have a lot of exciting new things to share. While I was constantly doing new tasks, they still came down to me having to email them or call someone and discuss it. A lot of meetings happen when planning an event so it is really important to have a flexible schedule for this. It is also important to be good about checking email, even on weekends, especially if they have the same task as I did , in having to manage and track the spotlight posts. I checked my email everyday and spent anywhere from thirty minutes to an hour everyday during the week and often on weekends, just sorting through them and responding. A tip I have for anyone who has an this job or an email heavy duty is to create a separate folder to move all the emails too, I kept every email because I often needed to refer back to things and keeping them just in my inbox was a disaster at first. This was probably not the typical internship/mentorship most people would go through, but having already done a few traditional internships, this was so much more beneficial. My contact with my mentor was as needed, except we also had specific mentoring meetings. I was given the opportunity to be very independent in many of my tasks but also could also turn to one of the other team members or my mentor if needed. This mentorship has really changed my perspective regarding my career path, I have always felt I had to get a certain job that I will stay in right away, but now I know that trying out different things an don't knowing is totally okay. It is even better for my career in the long run having different kinds of experiences. If other students were considering this I would tell them to be flexible and be ready to use zoom a lot! The event is being moved to in-person in the future, but I am sure virtual/remote jobs will still be offered.
0 Comments
Networking Event & Symposium - 16.5 hoursThe day(s) were finally here, after a lot of work and build up I could not wait for the event to start.
During both events I would be at the information/help table. In preparation for my duties, I printed out all necessary paperwork I felt I would need (FAQ sheet, run-of show, discussion topics, air-meet instructions). Before both events the team also met around an hour early to discuss how it would go, answer any questions or concerns and just in case anything had changed and Dr. Hilliard would be able to let us know before it started. We also did wrap-up meetings after, we simply all met back at the staff table and shared any concerns, and also just an overall of how each of us felt the event went. Networking Event My job was super simple and straight forward, but I still prepared and knew how to answer the few concerns that people to my table with. About half way through the event, Dr. Hilliard said I could wander and mingle at the other tables. Another part of each of our jobs was to make sure the tables were full and that conversation was happening. If it wasn't we could be at the tables to help keep it flowing. The event started with an icebreaker, read by Jada (head of networking team). I ended up making a few good connections, I even met a women who works for the USOPC who has a podcast called "The Sideline Perspective" and she said that it would be awesome to have us on it in the future if we were interested. I met so many amazing women and received some awesome pieces of advice that I cant wait to share with others and hopefully help them be successful. Advice/Tips - When preparing for a networking event, eat well - events can be draining. Dress comfortably so your comfortable. Give yourself time to decompress after events. - Get out there, does not have to be a networking event, you can meet people anywhere doing anything. - NEVER get rid of contacts, you never know when you could help each other out. - Make private or separate social media accounts, one post could cause you not to be hired somewhere. -Don't always look for ways to monetize value, it is OKAY to "give things away for free" - When applying for jobs stay resilient, don't be afraid of sending emails or using your contacts if you need. - INVEST IN YOURSELF! (listen to podcasts, read, do fun things as well, does not have to be all work or education). - Be authentic! - You do not always have to have a goal when attending a networking event, you can just go to enjoy yourself and maybe meet/make some contacts. Symposium Again they day started off with a briefing of some tweaks. We wanted people to post more about the event. I was charged with still being available to answer questions at the FAQ table between speakers, but also sharing the event hashtags and telling people to post and share. The speakers for the event were Michelle Clemon, she spoke about DEI, but more specifically 'Athlete Development Leadership Through a Women Focused DEI Lense', the second speaker was Erin Haugen and she talked about Investing in the mental health & wellness of athletes participating in women's sports after a professional development roundtable the keynote address was given by Dr. Paula L. Jackson. The knowledge shared at this event was endless, I can not recommend attending if given the opportunity. During the event there was also a chat available for all of us to talk in, the discussion that happened in it was great. Also in the chat questions could be asked for the speakers, and we were also charged with grabbing those and making sure they were addressed. if the speaker did not have enough Q&A times, the questions were collected and the speaker will receive them and Dr. Hilliard will them be sending out a wrap up/newsletter with all of them in it to all attendees. Something I really gained and learned form this experience was due to being able to hear Dr. Jackson's story. She told all of us how she worked in all sorts of different jobs and departments. She told us that t was okay to not know exactly what you want to do and to try different things out. One of my biggest stressors lately has been that I do not know exactly what job I want and worry about "wasting" time trying things, Dr. Jackson actually encourages this. She said if not due to her working in so many different positions she would not be as good or qualified for the job she has today. More tips & advice - Athlete development is a team sport, lean on your team when you need to! - Easy for leaders to talk bout, but it is a lot harder to move the needle. -Self assessment is important, try a bit of everything if you can. - Learn as much about sports as possible (rules, how the game is played, etc.) - Be in the conversation, the more you know the more you can input. - Be flexible, it really helps you be successful. -OWN YOUR TRUTH! image retrieved from google Airmeet Training & First Event Walkthrough
This was essential as airmeet was not a platform many of us had used before. I had only used it once and had done research on it during the early days of my mentorship, because I was informed it was the platform used for the event. I would encourage anyone to always research new technology that you are aware you are going to be introduced to, even after my research there still were aspects I found confusing. This benefited me later in creating the FAQ document and adding input to the airmeet instructions that were later sent to attendees. The most important thing was making ourselves comfortable on airmeet and knowing how to do certain thigs. After that it was time to run through the networking event, later on there would be a full team and full event run through. We were given the full run of event here, but were told some tweaks could still and possibly would be made. We also learned that Jada who was the head of the networking team, would be like an MC for the event. I was given new tasks, which I started on following this meeting. It is best to start tasks as soon as possible, while all the information is still fresh in your mind and also if any issues arise you would be more likely to receive and answer or guidance back before the deadline. The event would be three hours long so we needed to plan accordingly to be able to attend. We also learned that we would meet up before the event and have a wrap up directly after. The event was mean to be informal and a way for people to make connections, we were also tasked with encouraging people to move around during the event, and to encourage conversation. Jada who was a volunteer for the event was an absolute star, she did so much planning and executing. She was always available via email to answer questions. It is so important to be diligent about communication when working in teams like this and especially when it is virtually, so you may not see them face to face until the next team meeting if you do not reach out. You can not be afraid to ask questions or for clarification. |
|