pre-internship blog
Wednesday 12/20
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My internship is at Challenged Athletes Foundation, and they do a lot of different things. The main goal of their Foundation is to provide opportunities for people with physical disabilities, and support them through sports and athletics.
My mentor is Kara Sterner, and it was really good meeting her over zoom. She seems like a very good leader and works hard, so she will be great to learn from. I hope to be working on a lot of large scale projects. I have spoken to my mentor about a few things they are working on, and they all sound interesting. I will be interning in the marketing department, so most of my assignments will be on those types of things. I am nervous for internship for a few reasons. I am worried that I won't be able to help my mentor, or that I will not do good work on the assignments. I am also worried about some of the assignments I will be given and I am worried about the requirements. |
Blog #1
week 1
1/10 - 1/12
Paralympian Poster
CAF's mission statement is "to provide opportunities and support to people with physical challenges, so they can pursue active lifestyles through physical fitness and competitive athletics. The Challenged Athletes Foundation believes that involvement in sports at any level increases self-esteem, encourages independence and enhances quality of life." I see this mission statement in everything they do, and CAF truly meets the expectations they have made for themselves. They have made a difference in so many peoples' lives. Today, I met an athlete they supported through his career, and he is now a Paralympic competitor. The image above is of that 5-time Paralympian, Rudy Garcia-Tolson. This is one example of a normal kid that they took at the age of 7 that became one of the greatest Paralympic athletes in American history. Not only have I seen the mission of CAF reflected in Paralympians, but also in normal kids with physical disabilities looking to pursue sport. Through grants and equipment, they have brought sports to a lot of young kids who felt alone with their disability. They in turn have created a community of athletes that support each other and know that if they have a goal, CAF will do anything to help get them there.
blog #2
Week 2
1/16 - 1/19
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I am not completely sure what my final product will be for my internship. So far, I have been working on a couple small projects, the main one being working on subtitles for videos produced by CAF. They are trying to make their YouTube videos more accessible to people with hearing disabilities, as well as subtitles helping with SEO (Search Engine Optimization). I have already been growing a few of my skills, such as independence and group work. For independence, I have basically been given a task or a small set of instructions and I need to figure the rest out from there. I think this will definitely help in college and my future career, so I don't need to rely on people every step of the way. For group work, the community at CAF is very kind and they all work closely together. This means I have already been in a few meetings where I had to discuss projects for the foundation and work with other departments, not just the marketing department. A possibility for a project I can work on for CAF is creating bios for their featured athletes (for the 2024 Paris Paralympics). This would help my mentor and the marketing department a lot because it would allow them to focus on the content of the featured para-athletes, whereas I can research these people and improve my writing skills.
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My desk
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BLOG #3
WEEK 2
1/16 - 1/19
Operation Rebound Event
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There is a very positive atmosphere at the Challenged Athletes Foundation. The first couple of days were made easy by everyone being so nice and just generally being kind and welcoming to me. I met a lot of people and had good conversations with them. Everybody at CAF seems like they are friends, not just colleagues. It was really interesting to see how they collaborate on so many projects as well. I was able to sit in on a meeting with the marketing department, and it actually reminded me a lot of our school and our group projects. There were a few moments where we had to brainstorm, and there were other moments where it was simply communication that made everything easier, such as my mentor, Kara, telling another women Cat that she was working on the Cycling list. This is very helpful to me for my future because I've realized I really want to find a workplace that has this kind of community. Like I said, there is a very positive energy here and it makes a difference in the productivity of everyone.
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blog #4
week 3
1/22 - 1/26
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My experiences at HTHMA and in the high tech system have prepared me for working at the Challenged Athletes Foundation very well through a few different skills I have learned, the first being group work. CAF works very closely with one another, especially in their department. It feels like one big team, and a big part of that is communication. I am specializing in the marketing department, which is only about 5 people, so everyone is constantly meeting with one another. Just last week I was able to sit in on a monthly meeting discussing the big events coming up for CAF and what that means for the marketing team. I was able to share what I was doing and help brainstorm with my coworkers, and that is thanks to doing different group projects throughout my years at HTHMA. This experience was a little bit different however, because I usually fill a leader role in group project at school. Here I am new, and I am following my mentor and her instructions, so it is a little bit of a new experience.
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Planning Whiteboard
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Blog #5
Week 3
1/22 - 1/26
CAF Clinic
As I have said before, I am thankful to have such a good environment to work in. Everybody here is very positive, and it encourages productiveness in the office. It makes the work and time a lot easier. You feel like you are doing good work when you accomplish things or finish tasks. All of the employees are very kind and made being a newcomer a lot easier. When I first got here, I was nervous to meet new people and put myself out in the open, especially since I wasn't sure what kind of work environment this was. However, everybody was very kind to me and made sure I had everything I needed. I have even made a few friends at CAF. Just the other day I spent around 15 minutes talking about football to two of my coworkers. Another thing I am very thankful for is that CAF does so much good for the community. They are truly a non-profit foundation that puts the community first. I can see the mission of the organization found in everything they do. Watching old videos and looking through old photos have shown me that the Challenged Athletes Foundation has helped a lot of people, and are genuinely doing it because they care about these disabled/physically challenged athletes.
blog #6
Week 3
1/22 - 1/26
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One of my first projects was looking through the subtitles on YouTube videos from the CAF page. While I looked through the transcripts, I would make sure that they match the audio from the video, and if there were no subtitles to begin with, I would create them myself. This helps with SEO, which stands for Search Engine Optimization, and it makes related internet searches lead to the Challenged Athletes Foundation. For example, if you type in "para-triathlon," SEO makes it more likely that CAF websites and links appear. This also helps people with hearing disabilities so they can better understand our videos and the content they are showing. The second task I have been doing is compiling the CAF asset library of photos and media for the foundation. This helps the marketing department by providing easier access to media, as well as making the pieces of media easier to find when searching based on words and events.
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YouTube Captions
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photo essay
Above is a picture of a display they have at the CAF office building. It shows different supporters and members of the Challenged Athletes Foundation throughout the years. Each row shows the winners of different achievements/titles awarded by CAF and its partners. There is the Jim McLaren (who was the first athlete CAF ever supported, and who played a major role in bringing together the founders of CAF) award, which goes to whoever has made the greatest contribution to CAF. The other awards include inspiring athletes, hardworking young participants, athletes who demonstrate leadership, and athletes who have achieved great success despite challenging conditions. I have gotten to learn about many of these athletes through working on the organizations YouTube videos, of which many athletes are featured in.
This is an image of the main foyer at the office of CAF. While it is mostly used as a meeting space for large events, they have a basketball hoop attached to one of the walls. Occasionally athletes, especially Paralympians for wheelchair basketball, will come and shoot on the hoop when they visit the office. There is also a gym downstairs for disabled athletes, which was really interesting to look at. On my first day, walking in and seeing this in the entrance lobby to the office made me relax a little bit, and it helped set the mood of the CAF headquarters. It was intimidating at first, but I learned that the environment here is very positive, friendly, and welcoming.
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This image shows the places and outreach that CAF has demonstrated over the 30 years they have been a foundation. They have reached over 70 countries, along with getting more than 30,000 grants for challenged athletes. They support athletes in 104 different sports and 94% of athletes agree that CAF has a large impact on the disability community. These are just a few statistics that represent the difference CAF is making to athletes all over the world. Knowing that the people I am working with have done this much over 30 years motivates me to do work here. I have also noticed that people are proud to work here. Using these statistics are also a big part of my roles in the marketing department. My mentor has said many times for different social posts that we can "pull numbers." This means that they go and talk to our HR representative and get the latest data on CAF and what they have accomplished to gain support from sponsors and consumers.
This picture shows Össur prosthetics on display at the Challenged Athletes Foundation. Össur has been a partner of CAF for more than 15 years. They are the main prosthetics that CAF gives out during events through their grants. The running legs are special prosthetics that are more durable and allow disabled athletes to move faster and more efficiently. These are very important to challenged athletes because normal prosthetic legs are not built for exercise. They do not have as much mobility, and therefore prohibit running for the users. Many Paralympians use Össur prosthetics during competitions.
This image shows the office space I am working in. It is very open and feels like a community space, even when people are quiet and working in their own zones. It has also been very nice to me to have somebody working right next to meet that I can ask questions to. Just earlier today I asked for some advice on one of my projects, and my coworker was very nice. The way that the office is set up has also allowed me to meet new people easily. Everybody greets each other, and many people have introduced themselves to me in passing. This workspace is really nice to be in and I would love to work somewhere like this in the future.
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BLOG #7
WEEK 4
1/29 - 2/2
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My project has been going decently well. I didn't really start it until this week because there was a lot of other planning involved, but I have already completed the first draft of the blog. The basic outline of the project is that a foundation is putting on a National Girls and Women in Sports Day, so CAF is trying to do something related to that. I was speaking with my mentor, and we came up with the idea of doing a blog and posting it to the Challenged Athletes Foundation website. The blog is meant to highlight a few athletes and speak about the overall importance of the issue and what CAF is doing to help. I finished my first draft today and gave it to my mentor for her to critique. However, it was challenging writing about the topic because I felt like I shouldn't have been the one writing the blog since I am a male athlete. I worked with my parents and colleagues and we were able to get through it and write a good blog, so I believe I have overcome that challenge.
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NGWSD Blog
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blog #8
Week 4
1/29 - 2/2
Trophy room
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I believe I am planning to continue working with CAF, but not in the same way. I was speaking with Kara about how fast the internship experience was going by, and then she said if I ever wanted to come back and volunteer at clinics or events, I would always be welcome. I think I will probably take her up on that because I really enjoy the mission of CAF and the work that they do. I need more volunteering time, and one of my friends actually said they had volunteered here and it was a great experience. I'm not exactly sure what clinic or event I would try to volunteer at, but I'm willing to do anything really. It would also be fun if I got some of my friends to come join the group and get more participation. The image on the left also shows a lot of the trophies and awards that they give out at these events. After looking through a lot of the organizations pictures the volunteers always seem like they have a good time.
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Blog #9
Final week
2/5 - 2/9
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I am most thankful for the amazing community at CAF and the positivity everyone has shown. Coming in on my first day, I was very nervous that I was going to stick out like a sore thumb or that people weren't really going to welcome me. It was kind of the opposite in reality. Everyone was very welcoming, and although I did stick out like a sore thumb, it was because people wanted to meet me and learn who I was. I am also very grateful for the office lunches they have every Wednesday. Everyone would get in the conference room together and someone would get lunch for the group. Then everyone would sit around the big conference room table talking and just having a good time. That was a great way to meet people because I was able to actually connect with and get to know everyone I had met earlier that day in my starting week.
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Group video
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blog #10
final week
2/5 - 2/9
Conference Room
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My internship has actually shown me a lot about college and future careers I might want to pursue, the main one being marketing. My internship was in the marketing department, so I learned a lot from my mentor about marketing and the basic principles behind it. One thing I liked learning about was the Marketing Funnel. At the top, all of the audience was entering the funnel. It then got smaller and smaller as you moved them through Awareness (learning about the product), Consideration (considering making a purchase), Conversion (making the purchase), Loyalty (feeling fulfilled with their purchase), and Advocacy (spreading the word and growing the audience to put back in the funnel). This was very interesting to me, because I realized how much phsycology and strategy there is in marketing. I would definitely consider majoring in something like this or in some other aspect of business, baecause it has been very useful and could help me with my future career a lot.
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