Connection to Life Experiences

When examining my SLE through a life experience lens, I was able to apply the concepts of social responsibility that I have become interested in, to the real-world situations right in front of me. Instead of seeing it play out in the media and not necessarily having a way to ‘fix’ it, I was given opportunities to make small contributions to somewhat ease these larger social issues. I have been playing sports since I was five years old. I played five sports in high school and grew up in a family that started deciding which sports I would play before I could even walk. I have also worked with all 22 sports programs here at Berry in some way. So, when I was going into my work with the Rome Braves, having that experience made me confident that I would not have any problems feeling comfortable working for a minor league baseball team.

In high school and throughout college, my interests in contemporary social issues have developed me into what I consider a social justice advocate. I am the President of the Black Student Association and am involved in various progressive clubs and initiatives on campus. I also work for the Student Diversity Initiatives Office on campus, so I spend a lot of time discussing topics like intersectional discrimination, racial systemic oppression, and microaggressions in commonly ‘white spaces’. Having this social conscience has blended into my love of sports. When I added my sports administration major, I was able to delve deeper and learn more about how these social issues related to sports. Issues like the coverage of women in sports media, the coverage of white versus non-white players in the media, and the influence of politics in sports are topics that I have become very passionate about. Through my work with B.S.A and S.D.I, I have been able to use my talents to participate in initiatives that directly address the issues I care about. For instance, working as the Marketing Specialist for S.D.I has allowed me to use social media to inform the Berry community of societal issues outside of the Berry Bubble. In regards to my work with the Rome Braves, my background knowledge in these social areas allowed me to recognize the disparity in the representation of those within my workspace and the problems that would later arise from it.

Working for the Rome Braves has significantly influenced my understanding of my present work experiences. I have been working for the Sports Information Department for the past three years and throughout that time I have worked alongside a plethora of coaches, administrators, and other student-workers. Working with large groups of people in high-strung situations has its challenges, and I have been able to learn how to navigate through various personalities to get the work done. This is similar to my time with the Rome Braves. As a professional organization, there is little room for error, so working together to ‘keep the show on the road’ was very important. Being able to effectively communicate through issues to get a task done was probably the most important skill I gained from my SLE. In addition, I have been more intentional about making sure Berry Athletics covers all of its athletes equally. When writing game recaps or annoucing women’s games, I try my best to show as much enthusiasm for their respective sports as I can. There is a stigma in the sports community that women’s sports are boring, but research has shown that a major influence for these attitudes has to do with how women’s games are covered in the media. Comparisons between the way play-by-play commentators announced women’s games and men’s games were drastically different in many cases. This biased reporting is just one factor that contributes to a plethora of issues regarding women’s equality in sports.

Being able to reflect on past experiences matters because we often look to the past to make sense of situations in the present. My fifth strength was Context, which describes a person who looks back into the past to make sense of the present. Often times, I find myself going back and reflecting on past decisions that I’ve made or lessons I’ve learned and using what I gained from those experiences to dictate my actions in the present. From a more practical sense, being reflective of the past is essential for those working in the sports industry. Being able to recognize what has not worked in areas ranging from game operations to the media and then finding ways to improve are essential for keeping up the business side of the industry. Looking forward, I do plan on going to graduate school soon after graduation. The schools I am applying to have a research component to them, so I am interested in having my research focus on some aspect of social responsibility in sports.