A couple of days ago, I moved into my new apartment at Saint Leo for the final time. For this semester, I will be living in Apartment 3, which was built in 2005. Apartments 3 and 4 are the newest housing units on campus. Last year, I lived in Apartment 2, which was built in 2003, and I had three roommates. This year, I only have one roommate, but I have a full kitchen, a living room, and my roommate and I share a bathroom. As I mentioned in my previous blog, soon I will be starting my second and final year. It is still difficult for me to think that I am about to start my last semester of classes. My time at Saint Leo has flown by. Thus far, it really has been a great experience for me.

My trip to Chicago was fantastic. My girlfriend and I had a great time. Unfortunately, the Goo Goo Dolls concert that we had tickets for was cancelled due to severe weather. Before it was cancelled, we waited under a pavilion directly in front of Lake Michigan thinking the storms would subside. After waiting for about forty five minutes and seeing lightning strike so close to us that we saw sparks shoot out from the lake, it was called. We were disappointed, but it did not hamper our trip.

Sweet Home, Chicago!

When my girl friend and I arrived in Orlando from Chicago, we made the drive to school. My car was absolutely packed to the brim! The hour and a half drive from Orlando was tight, to say the least. Once I arrived at school, I began to unpack. I met my roommate, who is from North Carolina. He is a junior, and he is majoring in Business Management.

This is How You Should Not Pack a Car!

This semester, I am taking 18 credits! Five of my classes are based on sport. The sixth one is a preparation class for my internship. I am taking Sport Law, Professional Development Seminar, Sport Governance, Sport Marketing, Sport Finance and Sales, and Sociology of Sport. I will be going to school Monday through Friday. On Friday’s, I only have one class and it is at 1:30 so that makes it a little easier. Along with school, I am working for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I will be working the University of South Florida football games, Bucs games, and any events that will occur at Raymond James Stadium. I am really looking forward to working for the Bucs!

I cannot believe it is my senior year already. I am already looking beyond this year thinking, I do not want to graduate yet! I do not want college to end! I think my internship over the summer made me realize what life could be like after I complete my classes in December. I am glad I had that experience early enough so I can enjoy the time I have left at Saint Leo, and also plan for what I may be doing in the very near future.

Posted by Ryan Jones at 8:48 PM | Permalink

Wow….It is hard to believe another school year is about to start! I will soon begin my final semester of classes at Saint Leo. I am excited for classes to begin, but at the same time, I do not want to leave college life just yet. I know the upcoming semester is going to contain a lot of course work, since I will be taking six classes, and a lot of preparation for getting myself ready for my internship, which will begin in January.

Since I am a Sport Business major, I am required to have an internship before I graduate. It should consist of at least 40 hours a week for 12 weeks. The main purpose of an internship is to gain practical experience within a sport organization. The major benefit of an internship is it could possibly lead to a full time position. A downfall of some internships is they are unpaid. Even though I may not be getting paid, the experience of working for a sport organization will hopefully benefit me so I am better prepared for a future career in sport.

Now, as for my summer, where should I begin?! This summer I had an internship with the Brevard County Manatees. The Manatees are the High A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in a developing town called Viera, which is in Florida, just outside of Melbourne. I went into the internship really not knowing what to expect. I knew I wanted to experience what it was like to work in the minor leagues. In my first year at Saint Leo, my professors constantly told me that a job in sport includes long hours and low pay. They were right! As I look back on the summer, now I realize how much time I actually spent in my internship. For the Manatees, I performed more job tasks than I could ever imagine! I coordinated the on field promotions, was Manny, the mascot of the Manatees, sold tickets in the community and in the ticket office, made cold calls, worked in the team store, scored a Manatees game, played the stadium music, filled in as a color analyst on a radio broadcast, helped out with a Brewers open tryout, and more! It was an unbelievable experience!

In all, I worked fifty games. I started in the beginning of May and I worked through the middle of August. During the week, I started at 9 a.m. If our team played at home later that evening I would normally work until about 10:30 p.m. If we did not have a game during the week, I would normally get off around 5 p.m. Fortunately, we had an hour and a half for lunch on non game days and an hour on game days. If we had a game during the weekend, I would go into work about six hours before the game and work until about two hours after the game. As you could imagine, I spent a lot of time at the stadium. It was fun though, and I did enjoy it.

Space Coast Stadium, Home of the Brevard County Manatees

Over the summer, I also took take an online class. I took Management 327, or Management Information Systems. Whenever I had free time, whether it was during my lunch break or after work, I was doing homework and studying for tests. Luckily the class was only eight weeks long.

When I was not working or studying, I spent a lot of my free time relaxing or at the beach. There were a total of three interns from Saint Leo. My roommate during the summer was one of my friends from school. He was very easy to live with so it made my living experience that much more enjoyable. I also lived in an apartment with kids from Northern Illinois University, University of Wisconsin-Lacrosse, Bowling Green University, Ole Miss University, Lock Haven University, and the eighth kid was from Saint Leo also. We all got along very well. Our staff turned into a big family because we were around each other so much.

I have one more week left until I drive back to school. In a few days, I will be heading home to Chicago with my girl friend to relax and spend time with my family. My girl friend and I are planning on going to a Goo Goo Dolls concert and a Cardinals vs. Cubs game. I am really looking forward to going home!

In my next blog, I will let you know how my last week of summer went. I will also show you how to NOT pack a car! Until then, I hope you enjoy your final days of summer.

Posted by Ryan Jones at 11:40 PM | Permalink