My time working at Recreational Sports at Oregon State was filled with great strides for me both personally and professionally. As you will hear from any person involved with Recreational Sports, it is so much more than JUST a job. The people who are associated with Recreational Sports, both faculty and students, are the supportive backbone that allowed me to succeed in my two most challenging accomplishments yet.

My history with Recreational Sports began with a rocky start. After I was promoted to Supervisor within the Operations Department, I let myself become complacent in my work, which led to suffering consequences for falling below the high standard of work that is required to be a successful Recreational Sports employee and supervisor.

This experience taught me that I had, and still have, a lot of room for improvement in my leadership skills. Luckily for me, one of the outstanding things about working within Recreational Sports is that it is an organization filled with individuals who are committed to the development of its employees. As an employee, you are not only provided with opportunities to make improvements in your professional experience, but also plenty of motivation and encouragement to do so. I quickly became dedicated to developing myself professionally because I wanted to leave behind a legacy as a positive and contributing employee at Recreational Sports.

An example of an opportunity that was available to me to grow professionally was the chance to work in multiple departments within the Department of Recreational Sports. My experience working in various departments allowed me to broaden my knowledge about the facility and improve my standard of work. I was able to grow exponentially as an employee and become a leader in both of my positions. My progression within the departments taught me a huge lesson - the more knowledgeable and diverse you are as an employee – the better employee you are capable of becoming. Excellence and diversity are two aspects that I know Recreational Sports strives to establish in its employees and participants, and they were exceptionally successful in my case.

I worked with Recreational Sports for a total of three years, and in that time, I reflect fondly and proudly on what I was personally able to achieve. I held a number of leadership positions including being head of a hiring committee and a supervisor for Special Events Team. These opportunities only furthered my commitment to bettering myself.

I earlier mentioned that it was from my employment with Recreational Sports that I gained the skills and confidence to complete my two most challenging endeavors to date. One of these would be applying to nursing school, which if any of you reading this has applied to post-baccalaureate education, you know it is an extremely intimidating and time-consuming process that requires massive amounts of support. My second endeavor was completing my international medical internship in Quito, Ecuador.

As a girl from a small family, from a small town, who had hardly even traveled around the fifty states, committing to an internship abroad where I would be immersed in a new culture and challenged to communicate in a new language terrified me. My internship proved to be every bit as challenging as I had assumed. It included completing over 360 clinical hours in hospitals, as well as over 160 hours of Spanish class. Throughout my experience, I was constantly thrown into situations that required high levels of adaptability, forced to collaborate with people who expected extreme professionalism, and suffered great consequences if I was not able to successfully manage my time. Accomplishing all of these things, along with being in a foreign country, would have been impossible without my previous experience with Recreational Sports. Upon concluding my internship in Quito, my internship advisor told me that I was, “one of the best interns the program has had.” It is without a doubt that my success in my internship was grounded in my experiences with Recreational Sports.

Since I am lucky enough to be able to share my overwhelmingly positive experience working with Recreational Sports, I would like to show thanks to three people who took a personal interest in my life and therefore impacted me in ways beyond imaginable. Troy Snow, who I thank endlessly for being tough on me. He knew I had the potential to become a unique and effective leader before I did, and pushed me to work hard to achieve success. Jasmine Womack who is so committed to bettering herself for her staff. Her passion for mentoring staff gave me so many opportunities to receive not only professional critique, but also support in all facets of life. And finally, Ali Casqueiro, who is so good at her job of being a mentor that she became one of my largest resources of love and support. It was due to her contagious positive attitude and everlasting encouragement that I was able to graduate from college knowing I could achieve anything.

These are just three examples of the exemplary staff at Recreational Sports who have dedicated their lives to developing students in more ways than we could ever put in words.