Learned
Outcomes
"Just enough is not enough"
Other than being an athlete, I have only ever been a student and held part-time work as a young adult usually serving people food.
​
As a student, with every assignment given or test taken, there has been guidelines to help you along the way. Things such as rubrics, where it shows you the minimum requirements to get the A. Or study guides where it outlines exactly what you need to know or do. There is always a guide with an end in sight. That ending that gives you a stopping point or a place to gauge your effort off of. And even then, it doesn't always take maximum effort to receive the highest recognition such as that A+ grade.
​
As a part time employee in the food service industry, the same mentality follows. You have a list of "duties" to complete and you work to complete them within every shift. You take orders and fulfill them and nobody expects more than being a decent human being from someone serving them a quick bite to eat. You check off the list and when everything is done your commended for a job well done, even though you completed the basic duties necessary for the job.
​
The reason I explain these things, is because within this internship I learned that my effort to do just enough in the past, was no longer valid. In an industry such as this, the people who teach and guide you aren't going to give you an "A+" for doing the minimum requirements. They aren't going to commend you for checking off the checklist of daily tasks. They are going to recognize the value you add to the team when you out-do your expectations. And while doing "just enough" meant you might have been perfect growing up, we are now at that point in our careers where we are the adults. And in this field, and in any career I'll have in the future, I now understand that just enough is never enough. This internship taught me that going the extra mile, is now the bare minimum and I am grateful to have that motivation for my future career.
"Step out of your comfort zone"
In the most sincere, genuine, and modest way, I must admit that I never struggled with meeting expectations. I usually come across as someone with determination and a good work ethic, so people don't usually bat an eye at my behavior. However, my position in this internship showed me areas of struggle due to the fact that it put me out of my comfort zone and I had to learn how to overcome that for the first time.
​
Working with the TEST Football Academy and the 2020 Combine Class, I was out of place. I am a 5'4" 20 year old female working with a group of men who are about 150 pounds heavier than me and about 12 inches taller. Men that have played the sport of football for most likely their whole life and at the highest level of amateurism now had to listen to me. And while I grew up as a football coach's daughter surrounded by the game for my whole life, they were unable to gauge my knowledge on the matter in the small amount of time that we had together. Regardless of how much I did know, the opportunity to showcase this knowledge didn't exactly present itself on its own. I had to learn how to step out of my comfort zone to assert my place in that gym.
At first, I figured it would just come naturally or that my supervisor would let it slide given my usual tendency to make up for lacking areas in other areas that I am strong in. However, my supervisor was not going to hand it over to me, but rather I had to learn how to become uncomfortable in order to create a strength that I didn't have before. Like I said, what 6'5", 300 pound lineman is going to listen to a girl like me? At first, none of them. But with the constant pressure to challenge myself, by the end of my internship, it was most of them.
​
This was an important learned outcome for me for the reason that my comfort zone is usually enough for most circumstances. Things like hard work, pleasant attitude, and efficiency usually pleased others. However, in this circumstance I was forced to be uncomfortable in order to develop. I had to create a coaching voice, overcome the anxiety that asserting my dominance would give me, and develop my best self.
"Always keep Learning"
In this internship, there are weekly meetings. On Wednesdays, the interns are asked to sit in on the company's meetings in order to address positives, negatives, and things learned. Each staff member provides these statements and when they get to the part about things learned, they offer their take on something that they learned on their own. Meaning, they are expected to come to each meeting with an article they read, notes from a presentation or conference, or a summary from a book they're currently reading that has to do with their field.
​
I'm not sure why this shocked me at first, but now it is clearer than ever why it is important to always keep learning in a field such as this. In my Administration in Sport Management class, we are lucky to have many days where we get to listen to guest speakers and ask questions. One common theme that I gained from a whole semester of the various guest speakers is "this field is always changing and you have to be ready for it". This learned outcome of my internship makes more sense than ever now after being able to connect the two.
​
You can buy a textbook with your required information in the year 2017, but the odds that another edition comes out in the 2018, and 2019, and 2020 are almost 100%. So how vital is it to learn something new in your field every single week? Very. And what's even more important is to learn in a way that you can provide value to conversations rather than just listening without retention. This is extremely important when so many in this field, as proven by my other class, say that it is always changing and evolving. With this, you must always put effort in to change and evolve with it.
​
In addition to this concept, it is more important for me now than ever to become a valuable contribution to conversations. I need to know not only the material that is expected of me but material that I can provide as new insight. I want to create a value to myself that goes beyond what I'm forced to know. This learned outcome I feel will be one of the most valuable takeaways I have gained from this internship.
"Make your own opportunities"
Rutgers University is an incredible institution that provides an endless amount of available opportunities and networks for their students. For example, an internship is a great opportunity and even required in this major, thus allowing the opportunity to fall into our laps. I am extremely grateful for that, however, I learned that if you really want to get somewhere, you can't wait for the door of opportunity to open - you have to kick the door in.
​
The reason that I say this is because at TEST Football Academy, there are loads of people in there that come from the most amazing backgrounds, especially for this field. The NFL, College Game Day, Carnosyn, Kaged Athlete, among many other sponsors and staff. The reason why I say that I learned to create my own opportunities is because this program will build you to be the best intern for this semester. However, to have a chance to advance to something bigger, better, and greater you have to wedge your way in there. Contacts won't fall in your lap and I learned that through most of my sport management courses. You have to ask to where you want to be and make the effort to get there. I wanted to create a connection with the sport psychologist of the Giants who TEST uses for their athletes, so I asked if they could help me out. They said the most they will do is give me his contact information but I had to do the hard work. I think at that moment is when I realized how important it is to pave your own path.
​
I know that this learned outcome from this internship will prove to be valuable in all of my future endeavors because it allows me to constantly search for advancement and to gain opportunity. I don't think I will ever be complacent with where I am and this gives me the tool to fuel my journey.