July 25, 2014
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - In April, the Purdue Athletics Department selected six student-athletes to serve as interns in various areas this summer, one each in communications, compliance, John Purdue Club, marketing/fan experience, ticket operations and the John R. Wooden Leadership Institute.
The first-year internship program, coordinated by academic support services advisor Laura Schnell, aims to provide student-athletes real-world experience working within a university athletics department and help them in their desired career paths. They will be working 150 hours between May and August and will be paid $1,500 for their service.
Sophomore swimmer Madison Monteiro, a business major, took a little time away from her training and her internship with Marketing/Fan Experience to update purduesports.com on how everything is going.
How has your internship been going?
My first month has been great. The Marketing and Promotions staff has been very accommodating to my swimming schedule and they have given me a lot of freedom to choose the projects I wish to work on. I feel like I'm already a part of the team. It's a good feeling to know that what I am doing here is positively impacting Purdue Athletics in a way most athletes don't have the opportunity to.
What, if anything, have you learned through the internship so far?
I've had the opportunity to be behind the scenes and have a true understanding of all the time and energy that goes into creating team posters, ad campaigns, managing social media accounts, selling tickets, and so much more. One of the most interesting projects I've had the opportunity to take on is creating a Google Analytics Report. I've been able to access tons of information on our most recent ad campaigns, and have been analyzing which ones are most successful and which ones are not.
Do you have a new respect or understanding for what goes on behind the scenes in the department?
I definitely have a new respect for all of the athletic staff and the other interns who keep Purdue Athletics going. You don't really realize how many people are making your dreams possible until you're actually working inside the athletic department.
What is your typical day like? How do you balance your new work schedule with your offseason workouts?
A typical day for me is: Wake up at 5:45 a.m. for swim practice, swim for about two hours, eat a quick breakfast, arrive at Mackey by 9 a.m. for my internship, spend the afternoon working on my latest project or helping out with STAR. At 2 p.m. I go home. Then, we have afternoon swim practice from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., followed by weights or dryland/cardio for another hour. After afternoon practice, I have the evening to myself. The Marketing and Promotions staff has been very flexible with my swimming schedule, making the balance between work and offseason workouts so much easier.
Has your internship changed your career plans or made it clearer to you what you might want to do?
My experience with Purdue Athletics has really opened my eyes to the opportunities I have in the sports marketing field. As a marketing major in Krannert at Purdue, I always thought I would be working for some sort of Fortune 500 company as a Market Research Analyst, but now that I've had the opportunity to work with Purdue Athletics, I will definitely explore careers in sports marketing.