Self-evaluation
One strength, in particular, was time management. Due to my military experience, I have a pet peeve about getting things accomplished and on time. If I had a task asked of me, I ensured to complete that task as quickly and efficiently as possible. There might have been times when I did not know the answer or how to perform a specific task, but I strived to do my best to accomplish every task. Another strength I brought was a life experience and a different perspective on different department areas. There were times when Justin would ask me what my thoughts were on a specific subject, and I gave him a different perspective that helped him accomplish his duties and responsibilities. For example, this spring was the first time in his eight years as an athletic director he was audited, which required him to pull out every athlete’s personal information for baseball. Although he has a file for each athlete in physical form, I mentioned why not have a digital file for every athlete with every record needed in an audit. Then when he needs a physical copy of each player’s information, he can go to the file and print the entire file instead of having to make copies of hundreds of papers in his filing cabinet. Lastly, I have a lot of experience with social media and the use of the internet, which was helpful when it came to student-athletes progress reports and finding sponsorships for the department.
2. What were your major weaknesses? What personal qualities could you have improved during your experience?
The major weakness I can think of was leadership quality in the beginning. For example, when it came to home games, Justin gave me the title of a game manager. As a game manager, my duties were to ensure officials were safely escorted to and from the locker room, answer any questions fans had throughout the game, and ensure no fights were to break out. In the beginning, I was pretty nervous because it was something new, and I was worried that I would do or say something that went against Justin’s wishes. For example, there were times when fans/students would be on the court during halftime or pregame, which I felt was unnecessary, but he allowed it. Although there were times when he would tell me that he would prefer it not to happen, I thought it was not my job to undermine his authority. As time went on, I gained more confidence that if I were to help next year, I could jump right into the role with no issues. Another weakness I have is public speaking or speaking on the phone for sponsorships. Since I was younger, I have always been a shy person.
However, my personality might not show that at times; it is a major weakness I have to try to overcome. When it came to getting sponsorships, I would rather speak to the people in person than over the phone. Also, in a group setting, if I am familiar with the individuals, I have no issue speaking in front of them. A couple of personal qualities that I could have improved upon during this experience are open-mindedness, self-directedness, and confidence. For open-mindedness, there were times I thought Justin could have handled things differently, but it was because if I were in his shoes, I would have done something different. Although I understand that Justin has more experience in his role, I could not help but think things could have been different. By no means am I saying he is a bad athletic director; I am saying that there were things he would tell me he wanted to be done but did not want to deal with the potential issues. For example, regarding the fans and students on the court during halftime, it was discussed that he did not like them being there but would allow it to happen. I understand not wanting to be the bad guy, but if it is something he dislikes, he has the power to change it. I would not have been against being the bad guy to help him get what he wanted. As for self-directed, there were times when I would wait to see what he wanted me to do for the day instead of trying to work on something I might have known needed to be done. However, it was something different every day that he would need help with most of the time, and I did not have access to some things that would have allowed me to become more self-directed in other areas. Lastly, there is not a lot I feel confident about when it comes to confidence unless I have done the task multiple times. For instance, as I mentioned before, in the beginning, learning to be a game manager was new, and I lacked the confidence to do the job correctly. However, as I got more repetition doing the role, I became more confident in accomplishing those tasks. Although I put my best effort into everything I do, there are times when I feel as if it is not good enough or that I could have done better. However, that is what improvement is all about, thinking of areas that can be improved and trying better the next time.
3.Do you feel you adequately satisfied the duties expected of you by the sponsoring organization? Why or why not?
When it comes to satisfying the duties expected of me by Clark State, I think I did the best I could in my given situation. A few hiccups happened with creating progress reports and getting feedback from professors, but those could have been avoided had I had access to each student’s academic schedule. By having access, I could have known which professors each student had and which classes they either picked up or dropped throughout the semester. Without having this access, I had several professors respond negatively about not having the student(s) in their course or that they had dropped the course at the beginning of the term.
4. Do you feel you adequately satisfied the time requirements (150/200 clock hours) of the internship?
When it comes to the number of hours required for this internship, I feel adequately satisfied. As an adult with a family and a full-time job, it sometimes made it difficult to get the hours in, but I made it work in the end. I learned quite a bit of information that can be carried on to future job opportunities.
5. What helpful suggestions would you make to future interns/mentees in your position?
The main suggestion I would give is to be prepared for repetitiveness because although there might be a variety of tasks to complete, a lot of the days felt the same. It did not help that I was required to have a background check to become an intern but was not given the trust of gaining access to further help Justin in his duties and responsibilities. Another suggestion would be to ask for a rundown of everything they must accomplish for the semester, if possible; this way, you can be more self-directed throughout the internship as an intern. Although I did not do this, I wish I would have because I could have been more helpful throughout my time interning with Clark State.
6. What did you gain from your experience? How will this experience help you when you leave Tiffin University?
A few things I gained through this experience were learning how busy the job as an athletic director can be. Although I feel that Justin does not get paid enough for all the responsibilities required of him, I learned that sometimes it is hard to satisfy everyone or accomplish every task without help. Specific tasks I learned were the importance of progress reports and how to create different plans to try and help the athletes, even though they did not take advantage of the help provided. Another important task was sponsorships because that is the only way the department can get help is through outside businesses. Speaking with different companies via email or in-person seemed to work better than over the phone because they can get to the email on their time rather than be forced to stop what they are doing to answer a phone call they were not expecting. Then there was learning how to take control of different aspects of home games and what is expected of the athletic director during those times. Although there were plenty of other experiences gained, the last experience I wanted to touch on was handling various coaches’ meetings, players, and recruiting visits. Several different aspects happened throughout the semester that the other coaches dealt with, and I got to see how Justin handled some of those issues if I were to run into similar problems. All the experiences will help me in the future because if I were to have the same problems, I would not panic but have an idea of how to handle the situation. Also, if I am unsure of how to handle situations, I will have a mentor I can reach out to for advice.
7. What overall grade do you feel you earned through your mentorship/internship experience? B+ Justify your response.
I give myself a B+ not because I felt I did not deserve an A but because I like to believe there is always room for improvement. There were aspects of the internship that I would love to go back to and change how I handled certain things. Also, if there is no room for improvement, I am perfect, which I am not. Some mistakes were made, which not all were of my doing but mistakes nonetheless.
- What strengths did you bring to your mentorship/internship?
One strength, in particular, was time management. Due to my military experience, I have a pet peeve about getting things accomplished and on time. If I had a task asked of me, I ensured to complete that task as quickly and efficiently as possible. There might have been times when I did not know the answer or how to perform a specific task, but I strived to do my best to accomplish every task. Another strength I brought was a life experience and a different perspective on different department areas. There were times when Justin would ask me what my thoughts were on a specific subject, and I gave him a different perspective that helped him accomplish his duties and responsibilities. For example, this spring was the first time in his eight years as an athletic director he was audited, which required him to pull out every athlete’s personal information for baseball. Although he has a file for each athlete in physical form, I mentioned why not have a digital file for every athlete with every record needed in an audit. Then when he needs a physical copy of each player’s information, he can go to the file and print the entire file instead of having to make copies of hundreds of papers in his filing cabinet. Lastly, I have a lot of experience with social media and the use of the internet, which was helpful when it came to student-athletes progress reports and finding sponsorships for the department.
2. What were your major weaknesses? What personal qualities could you have improved during your experience?
The major weakness I can think of was leadership quality in the beginning. For example, when it came to home games, Justin gave me the title of a game manager. As a game manager, my duties were to ensure officials were safely escorted to and from the locker room, answer any questions fans had throughout the game, and ensure no fights were to break out. In the beginning, I was pretty nervous because it was something new, and I was worried that I would do or say something that went against Justin’s wishes. For example, there were times when fans/students would be on the court during halftime or pregame, which I felt was unnecessary, but he allowed it. Although there were times when he would tell me that he would prefer it not to happen, I thought it was not my job to undermine his authority. As time went on, I gained more confidence that if I were to help next year, I could jump right into the role with no issues. Another weakness I have is public speaking or speaking on the phone for sponsorships. Since I was younger, I have always been a shy person.
However, my personality might not show that at times; it is a major weakness I have to try to overcome. When it came to getting sponsorships, I would rather speak to the people in person than over the phone. Also, in a group setting, if I am familiar with the individuals, I have no issue speaking in front of them. A couple of personal qualities that I could have improved upon during this experience are open-mindedness, self-directedness, and confidence. For open-mindedness, there were times I thought Justin could have handled things differently, but it was because if I were in his shoes, I would have done something different. Although I understand that Justin has more experience in his role, I could not help but think things could have been different. By no means am I saying he is a bad athletic director; I am saying that there were things he would tell me he wanted to be done but did not want to deal with the potential issues. For example, regarding the fans and students on the court during halftime, it was discussed that he did not like them being there but would allow it to happen. I understand not wanting to be the bad guy, but if it is something he dislikes, he has the power to change it. I would not have been against being the bad guy to help him get what he wanted. As for self-directed, there were times when I would wait to see what he wanted me to do for the day instead of trying to work on something I might have known needed to be done. However, it was something different every day that he would need help with most of the time, and I did not have access to some things that would have allowed me to become more self-directed in other areas. Lastly, there is not a lot I feel confident about when it comes to confidence unless I have done the task multiple times. For instance, as I mentioned before, in the beginning, learning to be a game manager was new, and I lacked the confidence to do the job correctly. However, as I got more repetition doing the role, I became more confident in accomplishing those tasks. Although I put my best effort into everything I do, there are times when I feel as if it is not good enough or that I could have done better. However, that is what improvement is all about, thinking of areas that can be improved and trying better the next time.
3.Do you feel you adequately satisfied the duties expected of you by the sponsoring organization? Why or why not?
When it comes to satisfying the duties expected of me by Clark State, I think I did the best I could in my given situation. A few hiccups happened with creating progress reports and getting feedback from professors, but those could have been avoided had I had access to each student’s academic schedule. By having access, I could have known which professors each student had and which classes they either picked up or dropped throughout the semester. Without having this access, I had several professors respond negatively about not having the student(s) in their course or that they had dropped the course at the beginning of the term.
4. Do you feel you adequately satisfied the time requirements (150/200 clock hours) of the internship?
When it comes to the number of hours required for this internship, I feel adequately satisfied. As an adult with a family and a full-time job, it sometimes made it difficult to get the hours in, but I made it work in the end. I learned quite a bit of information that can be carried on to future job opportunities.
5. What helpful suggestions would you make to future interns/mentees in your position?
The main suggestion I would give is to be prepared for repetitiveness because although there might be a variety of tasks to complete, a lot of the days felt the same. It did not help that I was required to have a background check to become an intern but was not given the trust of gaining access to further help Justin in his duties and responsibilities. Another suggestion would be to ask for a rundown of everything they must accomplish for the semester, if possible; this way, you can be more self-directed throughout the internship as an intern. Although I did not do this, I wish I would have because I could have been more helpful throughout my time interning with Clark State.
6. What did you gain from your experience? How will this experience help you when you leave Tiffin University?
A few things I gained through this experience were learning how busy the job as an athletic director can be. Although I feel that Justin does not get paid enough for all the responsibilities required of him, I learned that sometimes it is hard to satisfy everyone or accomplish every task without help. Specific tasks I learned were the importance of progress reports and how to create different plans to try and help the athletes, even though they did not take advantage of the help provided. Another important task was sponsorships because that is the only way the department can get help is through outside businesses. Speaking with different companies via email or in-person seemed to work better than over the phone because they can get to the email on their time rather than be forced to stop what they are doing to answer a phone call they were not expecting. Then there was learning how to take control of different aspects of home games and what is expected of the athletic director during those times. Although there were plenty of other experiences gained, the last experience I wanted to touch on was handling various coaches’ meetings, players, and recruiting visits. Several different aspects happened throughout the semester that the other coaches dealt with, and I got to see how Justin handled some of those issues if I were to run into similar problems. All the experiences will help me in the future because if I were to have the same problems, I would not panic but have an idea of how to handle the situation. Also, if I am unsure of how to handle situations, I will have a mentor I can reach out to for advice.
7. What overall grade do you feel you earned through your mentorship/internship experience? B+ Justify your response.
I give myself a B+ not because I felt I did not deserve an A but because I like to believe there is always room for improvement. There were aspects of the internship that I would love to go back to and change how I handled certain things. Also, if there is no room for improvement, I am perfect, which I am not. Some mistakes were made, which not all were of my doing but mistakes nonetheless.