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So it's always been my dream to work in some sort of football related capacity. Mainly scouting and the player personnel capacity. I have been offered an opportunity to go work a NONPAID INTERNSHIP for a team in the Arena Football League. It would be a scouting internship, something that I have so desperately looked for and dreamed of doing. It would be for a six month commitment and would be nonpaid. While it's not the NFL, the AFL is the second biggest league in the U.S. and could potentially lead to something bigger, which is the ultimate goal, but there is no guarantees that it will either. I am so split in the middle about this opportunity and I will list my pros and cons:
PROS:
-Dream opportunity
-Foot in the door
-Will have meaningful duties that will look good on a resume
CONS:
-Nonpaid (would have to pursue a second part time job to provide income)(have $3,000 I am taking with me)
-would have to move cross country (Indianapolis to Portland) (car has 160,000 miles on it)
*this is the biggest hiccup. If it wasn't about having to move cross country, I'd do it in a heartbeat.
-no guarantees for advancement.
There is both good and bad. It's risky since there isn't any guarantees that it could lead to something and it may be a waste of six months or the payoff could set me up for a lifetime of happiness. I control that of course with how I conduct myself at the internship.
Like I said it's been a dream but I dont want to waste time. I am 22 and ended up getting a fairly worthless degree (Kinesiology) and would like to pursue a masters degree soon in business if this football thing doesnt work out. I would hate to waste valuable time that I could use to get started on that degree. I simply dont want to burn time, but I don't want to have any regrets down the line. Another opportunity may not come around. But I am so torn. If you were in my shoes, what would you do?
Any advice would be appreciated! Need to talk this out!
For once there is a topic that really relates to me. I graduated with a degree in Sports management last October. My dream was to do exactly what your looking into with the NFL and eventually become a head coach or move into the front office.
A few things I learned during my short time trying:
It's all about who you know and has nothing to do with what you bring to the table.
If you didn't take a million relevant internships during college , your basically screwed.
and finally and most importantly , if your looking to really have a career and make money , this is the wrong career for you. Assuming this is the path you take , you won't make a decent salary until your probably 30 and even with that , these careers are very unstable. I guess if you can afford to do the internship with no money , it could be a possibility. But don't expect to than earn a job in the NFL from doing it, it just doesn't work that way. As mentioned , these careers are all about who you know and not about what you can do.
My initial path was through an entry level position like ticket sales but I couldn't even get a job doing that. Another good way is interning for the football team where you went to school , assuming they had one.
I finally decided after a few months it wasn't worth it and moved on. Now a year and a half out I have a real career and make good money in sales.
I know people will say if your really passionate about , stick with it and normally I would agree. I am more knowledgeable and have more love for the NFL and sports than anyone I've ever known ,but reality is reality and it just isn't a solid career. I soon learned that just because you love something doesn't mean you have to work with something related to it , sometimes that just isn't practical.
My last piece of advice would be to make up your mind pretty quickly because you'll find very quickly that a lot of interviews you go on , the degree will be heavily scrutinized , especially getting your first job , so just try to get something pretty quick no matter what you choose and you'll be set going forward.
That honestly sounds like a pretty cool internship. One of the rare and unique unpaid internships that just might be worthwhile. Especially since you have so much interest in football.
And although moving is costly, you're moving to pretty nice state in Oregon. The COL is Portland does not look cheap but it's manageable and not outrageously expensive like a NY, DC, LA, SF, etc. No sales tax which is great.
It could be a fun life experience and an interesting thing to put your resume that may pay off in dividends later. Even if it doesn't, it's a resume addition and conversation stater if you will-not your typical office pencil-pusher/coffee getter internship.
Maybe take some community college classes there if you have time, for the sole reason that it delays student loan interests if you have them. Plus, taking some cooking classes could help a new guy living alone. Community college since it's cheaper and you don't need it for a degree
1) You have a degree in Kinesiology which specifically has to do with sports, and physical fitness and yet -- you call it worthless, despite the "awesome" opportunity.
2) You're going for a Master's in Business IF the whole internship doesn't work out because you don't want to waste time trying to make your degree/knowledge work.
If you don't want to waste time, and you're not grateful for the degree that you have that allowed you to pursue such "awesome" internships that is supposedly your "dream" (obviously it's not a dream if you consider the degree of Kinesiology, which closely relates to sports industry as worthless), then why not just skip all of that and just go for the Master's?
===
You know what degree is worthless? The kind you get from a defunct or fly-by-night school that is non-transferable to ANY University except for maybe University of Phoenix, you know... the kind that makes you start all over from the beginning (Associate's!), effectively rendering the past 3-4 years of your life spent obtaining said degree as WASTED. That kind of degree is worthless.
Your degree that you got from a public university that's transferable to every state in this country? With enough credits that's transferable so you can get started on a Master's Degree from a legit university and not some bull sh** school like University of Phoenix? Yeah, that's not a worthless degree in my eyes!!! At-least you can rectify your mistakes by taking a few classes, instead of starting all over.
So, be grateful for the degree you have and pursue your dreams. Don't call it worthless and pursue a dream opportunity any way, that's just being a hypocrite.
It would be for a six month commitment and would be nonpaid. While it's not the NFL, the AFL is the second biggest league in the U.S. and could potentially lead to something bigger, which is the ultimate goal, but there is no guarantees that it will either.
It's risky since there isn't any guarantees
I'm going to quote two of my heroes in life. The first one is Randy "Macho Man" Savage who said that the only guarantee in life is that there are no guarantees.
The second one quote I will paraphrase from Rocky Balboa, who said remarked that it is his RIGHT to pursue happiness as outlined in the Declaration of Independence.
Think about that and make your decision accordingly. Good luck.
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