September 2, 2014
Since you are my professor for two classes I will not go in to much detail
about my nomadic childhood like I did in my other journal entry. Once I
finally settled down and moved to New Jersey for college I knew one thing. I
wanted to help people. I love people and found out as a freshman that there is
a whole course you can take to learn about people as a whole. Of course I had
to sign up for Soc. 101. I knew I had found an area that really interested
me because while my classmates were complaining about Sociology homework or the
papers we had to write I was craving more. I did my readings and found constant
questions to ask about society. Culture, norms, and group dynamics… these things
started to fascinate me.
My career paths have changed since I was a little eighteen year old in my
first Sociology class but the study of people still interests me. When I saw
this class offered I had to take it, I didn’t even care if it was on Tuesday and
Thursdays and I had planned on only taking Monday and Wednesday classes.
Finally something from my old area of study and my new area of study, in sports,
combined. I really look forward to this class and I am excited to take what I
learned in undergrad and use it now.
People ask how I switched from sociology and criminal justice to Sport
Administration for my graduate studies. TO be honest, it was convince. I was
scared of the real world and grad school meant I got to stay in my safe bubble
of being a student for another two years. I chose Sport Administration because
of my background in coaching. I can really see myself coaching after I
graduate. Volleyball helps me put two of the times I love, people and sport,
together in a career that I can be really passionate about.
My graduate project is definitely still a work in progress and is constantly
changing. My current idea is to focus on fundraising at the small, Division III
level. For instance one of my research questions is: How can you attract donors
to these small programs? I went to a small school and have seen the struggle
financially, so it is a problem that is near to my heart. I am extremely
interested to see if this class sparks any old passions that could possibly
change my project idea. :)
I enjoyed reading your introduction because it reminded me a lot of myself, my career path in college, and my interest. I also am very interested in sociology, although it came later than yours for me to notice that I was. It wasn't until my senior year that I took my first really interesting sociology class, and it was juvenile delinquency with Danielle Kuhl. It amazed me the paths that some adolescents were forced to take given the circumstances they were born into, and it also amazed me how sports were such a way out for some of those children. I too am glad that I found a class that can put both society and sport together. I changed my major roughly five times before finally graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Liberal Studies, and now I am in the school of HMSLS. Likewise, I wish to pursue a career in collegiate coaching so that I can give back all of what I have taken in the past five years of being a student-athlete collegiately. It's nice to read about peers having similar interests and commonalities.
ReplyDeleteBrittany Sinclair
I also find an interest in Division III athletics. Playing at a small school really provided me with several opportunities that I think have shaped the person that I am today and I think a lot of it is because of the Division III environment. I would be interested in what you find from your research because so many small school do struggle to find athletes. If there is not a history of a successful program I think most Division III sports survive on academic funds. I know personally I came from a very successful program and as the success started to fade money became a very serious issue. Players would still commit to playing because of the history but the program had a hard time finding funding. Sadly, I think think is just how Division III athletics has always been run and minimal effort has been made to change it.
ReplyDeleteMaddy,
ReplyDeleteI definitely can relate to the idea of continuing your education in order to stay in a bubble. I was terrified of the real world. It did not help that my undergraduate degree was not going to get me anywhere, since I had switched from AYA Social Studies to Individual Studies. With me, I think I'm at least 100x more terrified of the real world, and the bubble was only a very temporary solution. The main difference is that while I am more scared about getting a "big kid" job, I'm also extremely excited.
It’s great that despite how different your undergraduate degree and what you would pursue as a master’s degree are, you found a passion driving your interest in higher education and went with it. I had a passion for sports as well, and decided to try it out. I’m so glad that I did.
Casey
Maddy,
ReplyDeleteYour post made me feel a lot better, especially as a first year grad student. Originally, I was planning on taking some time off from school to figure out what I wanted to do. However, I had to complete an internship to finish my undergrad, and during my time at Cincinnati Children’s I realized I wanted to come back immediately as opposed to wait a year like my original plan. Like you, all I knew is that I wanted to help people. My idea for a career has changed throughout the years, and even coming into my first semester, I’m still not one hundred percent sure about what I want to do. Hearing about your project is also helpful, because I’m in the process of trying to decide what I want to do for my thesis, but couldn’t decide on where to start! It sounds like you really need to play to your strengths and you’ll figure out what you want to do.
Originally, I wanted to do something with sports/athletes because that was originally my passion having been a competitive athlete for ten years. When I stopped swimming, I lost all passion for sports and changed my mind once more. I hope your project goes well, and it makes me happy that people are looking out for the Division III schools! I had several friends go on to be athletes for Division III, my sister included, so that’s a great cause.
Jacquelyn