Hi everyone! My name is Oviya Srinivasan, and I’m a rising junior at Pitt. I’m pursuing a Marketing major, Economics minor, and Sports Management Certificate. This summer, I will be traveling to the “land down under” to participate in the Pitt Business Sydney Summer Sports program! As I write this, I have had a few days under my belt here in this beautiful city, and I’m so excited for classes to start!
If you’re nosy, here’s a little bit about me personally! I’m a big hobby fan and love to dabble in a bit of everything, but my biggest hobbies are reading, art, and video/board games! I’ve already made a trip to the bookstore, and I was so excited to find out that the biggest bookstore in Australia is right here in Sydney! I’ve also done a lot of graphic design throughout high school and into college, but at my internship, I’ll actually be doing a lot of social media content creation, which I am so excited for! But more about my internship later! In regard to previous travel, I have travelled to India many times to visit my extended family! It’s such a beautiful place, and last year I took my first solo trip there for a month!
At Pitt, I’m involved in the American Marketing Association (AMA), Women in Economics (WiE), and Key Creations- the consulting committee of AMA. Next year, I will be the Co-Vice President of Key Creations, and I will also be continuing my role as the Director of Social Media for WiE! This past semester, I was also a marketing intern with Pittsburgh’s professional soccer team, the Riverhounds SC! Here, I created many graphics for scoreboards, social platforms, and print, and I also assisted with social media coverage during games.
In Sydney, I will be taking a Sports Marketing class and will be interning with the Western City Rangers FC, a semi-professional sports team. I chose to take Sports Marketing while I’m abroad because I’m curious to see how marketing, specifically in the sports sector, differs from how it works in the United States. I will also be taking a shorter internship class to supplement what I learn at my internship.
One of my favorite things is seeing how any field, whether that is marketing, business, politics, or even economics, can vary between different countries. Because of this, having the opportunity to explore, compare, and work in sports and sports marketing in Australia is so valuable to me! I’m extremely excited to be working with a soccer team here in Australia, especially after just wrapping up a semester with Pittsburgh’s soccer team. I look forward to seeing the differences in soccer teams and marketing initiatives between the two teams and countries.
Through this formative experience, I also hope to gain deeper insight into what a career in sports and sports marketing might look like for me post-grad. Additionally, I hope to gain valuable transferable skills and experience from my classes and internships that I can bring back with me to Pitt and apply to my personal and professional career and goals. Three of these goals I hope to accomplish during my time abroad include:
- Learn the “Aussie” way. As I said before, I’m so excited to see how marketing works in Australia, and I hope to bring back some of these different methods to future American marketing roles I may find myself in. This is especially true for social media marketing, which is a career I am considering. I am curious to see how the culture and conversation around social media is different in Australia, especially considering the recent 16-and-under social media ban for teens here.
- Communicate, communicate, communicate. During my orientation, I was told that Australians can be quite blunt. Though I am a little nervous about that, I think learning how to communicate with a wide variety of people who I am different from (whether that is age, gender, nationality, ethnicity, or more!) is extremely important.
- Carpie Diem. Though cliché, I am striving to make the most of my time here by seizing opportunities, taking risks, and being more intentional in my choices. These are skills I want to cultivate and take back with me to Pittsburgh and implement more into my life there.
Overall, I am so excited for this incredible opportunity to learn and grow in Sydney! And though I have only been here for a few days, I can already tell you that it is such a beautiful place (even if it has rained every day!). Tomorrow I start my first day of classes, and my internship will begin later this week! I’m so excited to be documenting my 6-week trip here, so don’t forget to check back soon!
