After being a COMM 462/562 Sport and Strategic Communication student, I can easily say that I have developed professional skills, built new connections in the sports world, learned to operate sports media, and improved my research ability. Each class discussed a new and exciting topic which simulated how things in the sports world are constantly changing every day. No day is the same when working for a sports organization; weekly collaborations with our Co-Teacher, Gianina were the perfect example. Hearing from different professionals she brought in each week was exciting, and I benefited tremendously from hearing about each of their positions in the professional world. Learning more about what their job entitles offered me a better understanding of what I want to do in the future. A key takeaway was learning to build relationships with other professionals and how it can affect you and your company. Specifically, the Sport Professional Penpal assignment pushed me out of my comfort zone and allowed me to expand my network with other professionals.
The Social media Persona also expanded my knowledge of the sports media world. I enjoyed diving deeper into social media platforms (such as Twitter) and being able to dissect what specific posts were trying to convey through target stakeholders, the team’s goals, and creative storytelling. Each of these factors has changed how I view sports media today. Lastly, with our semester-long assignment, the NIL Knowledge Hub was an exciting project that cultivated my research, teamwork, and public speaking skills. Seeing this project develop over a few weeks was very rewarding when presenting to the student-athletes. With the help of my classmates, this project was a great success and a necessary experience I can carry with me into the professional world. Overall, I have developed many versatile skills from this class that will be vital when applying for jobs in the future.