Internship Series
Ever thought about interning south of the border?
October 27, 2016
By: David Stark, second-year sport management student at Brock University
This past summer, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to travel south to Corvallis, Oregon. My home for the next three months would be at Oregon State Universityâs Goss Stadium, and the downtown office of the Corvallis Knights.
The Corvallis Knights are a part of the West Coast League (WCL), home to 11 baseball teams along the pacific coastline, stretching from Victoria B.C, to Corvallis, Oregon. The WCL is a developmental wood bat league with players coming from Division 1 Universities and Colleges as well as community college players â all with aspirations of heading to the next level.
I was fortunate enough to have a family member who had previously played for the team make me aware of this opportunity, provide me with a connection and an immediate starting point with the organization. Following the application process, I was selected to be an Apparel, Marketing and Sales Intern. With the team also being founded by Phil Knight, Founder of Nike, also gave us the opportunity to work with Nike and New Era.
Sacrificing for success
As the summer was approaching people scrutinized my decision to go down there unpaid, and skeptical that I would be learning from an American organization with different standards and guidelines. In my opinion though, thatâs the beauty of internships. You donât need to be focusing directly on one sector, one sport, or in a specific geographical area. You are able to take risks and experience different norms and cultures without a permanent commitment.
I knew that by not earning much money in the summer, I would likely have to work part-time during the next school year, but I felt the experience would be worth the sacrifice.
âYou donât need to be focusing directly on one sector, one sport, or in a specific geographical area.â
At first, the transition was intimidating and stressful; from never having met the people who I was going to be working with to driving in the middle of the night to find my host family.
The days were long, the work was hard, and at times it felt like I was spinning my tires and not making any forward progress.
The group around me was what kept me going through it all. Internships are not for everyone. I can personally say through my experience this summer alone, I saw other interns say it was too much work for them, or that they âwerenât getting paid enough for this.â This was ironic considering I was the only one working for the duration of the summer completely voluntaryâŠ
Although the work was grueling at times, the thought of working with all of these people and creating these lifelong friendships and bonds was just another positive beam of light that I was able to focus on.
Internships give you the ability to learn skills, gain experience, and make valuable connections in your field of interest. It is a way of developing your resume and establishing contacts that could possibly lead to a job or career either directly or indirectly by way of a reference. Employers can get a sense of your knowledge, skills, character, and level of commitment through your internship experience.
Challenges of interning south of the border
The process of setting up an internship across the border was challenging and stressful. Some rules such as not being allowed to receive any form of payment was clear. However, other rules were vague and subjective, such as the paperwork required to cross the border. According to the US border website, International students require a special Visa to participate in an internship in the US, while Canadian students can travel as a visitor for up to 6 months. It was very difficult to establish a clear process, but eventually it was recommended that we prepare a file of documents to prove the place, purpose, and duration of my trip. I would highly recommend having the State look at any internships you will be pursuing.
Why you should consider pursuing an internship
Overall, my internship was a valuable and worthwhile experience. The contacts, connections, and friendships I developed were the most valuable take-away. The skill development was good for my resume, but the soft skills such as teamwork, communication, and being pushed outside of my comfort zone while navigating the process was where I experienced the most growth. I will be absolutely taking part in other internships in the future, and look forward to the challenges and lessons I will learn from each and every one of them.
We would like to thank David for his time and sharing with us his experience interning with the Corvallis Knights, and wish him best his in journey in the sport industry. To learn more about his experience you can connect with David on LinkedIn.
