Tue, Jul 31, 2012

We went to the Olympic reunion center yesterday to volunteer and hang out with a selection of London's youth. Oh yeah and a few Olympians were there too. We set up a mock Olympic games that were active and fun for the youth like a push up contest and a balancing event. We were divided into four teams and all competed against eachother. Intermittently the games were paused and an Olympian would come in to the room and tell us their story. We met a wide range of athletes from different sports and different Olympic games but they all had a common message. Be the best you can be. I think the kids could relate, and I know I really enjoyed their messages. After the games were over we got changed into dress clothes and went to dinner at the reunion center. Here we got to meet and mingle with former Olympians and learn about their sports success. What was even more interesting was what they had done with their lives post sports. Many went on to coach, but some entered the real world and were business professionals. One was a physical education instructor, and all expressed interest in developing the Olympic motto further, and invest in the next generation. It was a very cool opportunity.

I also have to give a shout out to the NCAA Career in Sports Forum and the woman who helped me get there, Linda Johnson. At the conference in June I developed the skills to network and talk to professionals. Had I not gone to this conference I would have hung out with friends all night and not met all of the Olympians. Networking skills will play an inmortant part of my professional path no matter which path I choose to take. The NCAA's investment in my professional future is going to give me a huge advantage once I leave college and enter the real world myself.