My international experience was one of the best times of my life. The six weeks flew by, but I tried to make the most of it, even if that meant little sleep at times. My time abroad mostly consisted of interning, class, and traveling on the weekends. My internship consisted of 20 hours a week with a total of 120 hours over 6 weeks. A great part of my internship with GWS Giants was they were very flexible about when I can get my hours in. As far as my class, I took Sports Marketing on Tuesday and Thursday along with an internship study class on Monday. My favorite part of my Sports Marketing class was the assignments we did. Our assignments were all essay based which allowed us to break down a certain issue an analyze it ourselves.

This trip to Australia served as a great growing experience for me. First, coming into a new country and adapting to their culture allowed me to branch out of a comfort zone that I had become so adjusted to back home. When meeting new people daily, even if it was just for a few minutes, I found it was very easy to make a conversation once a common ground was set. This lesson was also taught to me at my internship. During my sales training, my supervisor told me to have an actual conversation before talking to the customer about a potential sale. Once the customer opens up and gets talking, bringing up a sale will feel natural and the chance of selling increases. My co-workers taught me so much and I hope to stay connected with them in the future. In my Sports Marketing class, I was able to learn more about the international market of sports and how different companies adapt to new countries with product variation. I was also able to attend a few different sporting events in Australia. I attended two Australian Rules Football games and the State of Origin Rugby game on my last night. The Rugby game might have been my favorite night in Australia, the game was an all-timer and the atmosphere was off the charts.

Being back, I plan on carrying the knowledge I learned back to Pitt. I now know the importance of international relations and will continue to think of things I learn not only on the national scale but internationally as well. Also, being on the executive board for the Sports Business Association, I hope to share this program with the members and answer any questions they may have. This program was geared perfectly to my interests in Sports Business and I am so glad I got the chance to experience it.

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