Innovision Fall 2019

22 | INNOVISION MAGAZINE STUDENT INTERN How did you get your internship? Was it difficult? I was able to secure my internship through the help of my field hockey coach, Marci Scheuing. I had an end-of-year meeting with Coach Scheuing and I informed her I was looking for an internship for academic credit. She referred me to Kristin Helmick, the senior director of sales at Orlando City Soccer Club. Over winter break, I had my first phone call with Kristin so she could get a sense of who I was. We had a second phone call to talk more about the position and the expectations. At the end of the call, she offered me an internship with the sales department for the club. This process was extremely simple and I cannot thank my coach enough for reaching out to Kristin and granting me such an amazing experience. What were some challenges you faced when starting your internship? The biggest challenge was adapting to a new lifestyle. I drove to Orlando after the spring semester ended. Transitioning from Pennsylvania to Florida was a lot to handle. The closest family I had to Orlando was almost a four-hour drive. I chose to get an apartment on my own, which was something I was unfamiliar with. Luckily, I was able to manage all of these changes and found Orlando to be like a second home. I didn’t face many challenges in the workplace because everyone welcomed me with open arms and made me feel like I was a part of the staff from the minute I stepped in the office. What do you do on a day-to-day basis interning with the Orlando City Soccer Club? Being a part of the sales department, I became very familiar with how to conduct a proper conversation with a potential customer. I sent out informational emails to participants of youth soccer camps, and organized items and check-ins for pre-game experiences. On game day, each player on the starting lineup of the Major League Soccer (MLS) walks a child onto the field to experience what it would feel like to be a professional soccer player. My responsibility was making sure there were enough uniforms for the children, creating check-in sheets, escorting children into the player tunnel and informing them of the proper routine when they go out onto the field. This was the coolest part of my pre-game experience duties because I was in the player tunnel for almost every home match and was able to interact and socialize with the professional athletes. What did you learn at KU that made you feel the most prepared for your internship? The one thing that most prepared me for my internship was the power of working in groups. This was something that was constantly reiterated in the workplace. In most of my classes, there were group projects because two brains are more powerful than one. This translated to the workplace. Almost all ideas that are executed require assistance from another or multiple departments. Even though I had “sales” in my title, I was able to build relationships and help out with member services, corporate partnerships, the Foundation and other departments. Understanding the value of working in numbers made me comfortable with approaching someone for help with anything. It also made me realize that everyone brings something special to a group. What do you think are the most important qualities/skills for someone to excel in this internship/role? I believe themost important quality/skill is to be a good communicator. I had to be able to engage in conversation with people, while learning about them and their backgrounds. One thing that was stressed to me in my first week was to really listen when people speak and not to think of how you’re going to respond. Someone in this role should also be willing to take initiative. One final quality is that they should be well-organized. KYRAWOZNIAK ‘20 Kyra Wozniak is a senior Sport Management major who interned with the Orlando City Soccer Club.