Leavey Ambassadors Program Blogs

Where Passion Meets Possibility

My journey thus far at Santa Clara has been a combination of the known and the unknown, as it is for many students finding their way in college and in the professional world. Coming to Santa Clara, I knew I wanted to find and take advantage of the resources necessary to achieve my goals of working in the sports business industry. This was known to me. I have a deep interest in the intersection between sports and business operations, specifically in marketing and partnerships. As an athlete who has competed in Irish dance and soccer since the age of four, I understand the athlete's experience at major sporting events on a deep level. However, I want to transition into understanding the fan experience and how major sports teams create the game-day experience that keeps fans coming back every game. Santa Clara University sits in a unique area with Silicon Valley so close by, as well as many major sports teams. When I was applying to Santa Clara, it was announced that the National Women’s Soccer League would be adding an expansion team in San Jose during my freshman year. This felt like a sign that Santa Clara was the place for me. 

During my little over a year here, I have gained access to amazing opportunities that are exposed to the sports industry. For example, this November, I will be attending “Students at the Stadium” for the second year in a row. This event is organized by the San Francisco 49ers to expose high school and college students to the wide range of careers available in the sports industry and to show how a historic team like the 49ers operates its business. I found out about this opportunity both years through our amazing career center on campus. I think if there is one resource I could tell incoming and younger students to take advantage of, it is the career center. I didn’t use it as much as I should have last year, but this year I have gained both professional and personal advice that I wish I had accessed sooner. So much of the stress of searching for an internship this year has been removed by my visits to the career center. I am early on in my career, still trying to land my first internship and expand my professional network. But the career center has given me peace of mind with some of the most daunting aspects of the internship search. Examples of resumes and cover letters on their website have been extremely helpful, as well as one-on-one advice for interviews and professional conversations and coffee chats. If you connect yourself with any of the resources on campus, let it be the career center. 

While getting involved in the sports business community in the Bay Area was something that I planned to do once I started my Santa Clara journey, I have also become involved in areas of the university I never would have expected to. Coming to college, I had the mindset that I would open myself up to as many opportunities as possible and see where they led me. If they worked out and inspired me, that was great, but if they didn’t, no harm done. I wanted my perceptions and ideas to be challenged in new and exciting ways. This is what I was thinking when I signed up for an Italian class during the fall quarter of my freshman year. What I never could have guessed was that by fall quarter of my sophomore year, I would still be taking Italian classes because it inspired me to add an international business minor. I have thoroughly enjoyed learning about a new culture that is not my own and how international communication skills could assist me in a business career. I am currently applying to study abroad in Milan, Italy, which I feel would be the culmination of my work thus far at Santa Clara in Italian and business studies. 

Through my experiences in the sports business industry and the beginning of my professional career, the career center, and my decision to try a new language, I have learned to open myself up to the known and the unknown equally. I have begun to look for ways that both can intersect as I continue to grow personally and professionally at a school like Santa Clara that offers so many opportunities. I would encourage anyone to do the same and look for creative ways to combine new and old interests. You never know where these combinations could lead you or how you could use these new skills in your career.

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