A Longhorn in Husker Land: My Summer @ Hudl
I’m not going to lie, I was not thrilled about leaving Austin to spend my summer in Lincoln, but now that my internship has wrapped up, I must admit (and this is hard for me) that I was wrong. While I won’t go so far as to say I fell in love with the place, living here for 12 weeks was definitely a pleasant surprise. Contrary to what most out-of-staters like me may think, there actually were things to do and experience in this big small town that are unique to Lincoln, like the weekly farmer’s market and incredible local beer.
As for working for Hudl, I’m pretty confident in saying the internship is unmatched when it comes to a great work culture, meaningful job experiences, and brag-worthy perks — all while surrounded by awesome people you get to work with every day.
My third week on the job coincided with Hudl Week, the biggest quarterly retreat of the year. In years past, it was tradition to fly the entire company to Las Vegas for this annual retreat followed by a big, fancy party to celebrate all the work Hudl had accomplished over the last 12 months. This year, however, they hosted everything at the brand new headquarters in Lincoln. Daily tasks came to a halt to allow for cross-team collaboration, squad bonding, and best of all, a company-wide 3-on-3 basketball tournament. It was an entire week of learning and meeting new people mixed in with a ton of fun! Hudl kept tradition with the retreat and party to wrap up the week, but I couldn’t stop telling all my friends about all the awesome events the company put on for its employees not just during Hudl Week but for the rest of my summer, including a tour of Memorial Stadium, a weekly volleyball league, and a Friday spent golfing.
In case it’s not obvious, sports is a huge part of Hudl’s culture and it’s absolutely wonderful. There are almost 200 TVs around the office that are always tuned into a sports channel, which is pretty much my definition of an ideal work environment — especially when huge events such as the NBA playoffs and World Cup took place this summer. You can also always find someone willing to catch a game together at a local bar or chat about recent events in sports over lunch. And if there’s anything that I learned this summer, it’s that there is always, always someone who has the time to tell me why the 2009 Big 12 Championship was “unfair.”
While I wouldn’t have minded if the entire summer had consisted of just one awesome event after another, Hudl works just as hard as it plays and truly lives up to the Dominate value. As far as the internship program went, there were often times I forgot I was an intern. The company put a big emphasis and followed through on its promise to treat you just like a full-timer. You get put on real projects that you can point to later and actually say, “Hey, I helped make that happen.” You are given real responsibility and ownership for your work, but not without support and guidance from your team and manager. The work-life balance really couldn’t get any better. Your coworkers will also inevitably become your friends, whether you want them to or not, as Hudl sets aside a “fun budget” for every team to spend time together outside of work, and I was lucky enough to be on a squad that put our budget towards bi-weekly happy hours and questionable escape rooms.
Bottom line: Apply for a Hudl internship. And if you’re from out of state, give Lincoln a chance for a summer. A+ work culture and career cultivation. Plus, you get free lunch everyday.
