Office: Physical Education, Athletics and Recreation (PEAR)
Position: Intramural Basketball Czar
Major: American Studies with an Educational Studies concentration
What do you do in this position?
As a Basketball Czar, my job is to organize the basketball leagues and create the game schedules. I’m also in charge of scheduling the scorekeepers and the referees for the games, and making sure that everything runs smoothly on game nights. I am also the main person who team captains contact when they have questions or problems about games.
How did you get your position?
I played IM Basketball the Winter and Spring terms of my freshmen year and found out about the position through one of the seniors who was graduating. After talking to him about the job, I thought it would be a great way to have a leadership position on campus, as well as do something I love, which is play basketball. I talked to my now supervisor, Mikki Showers, about the position and applied. I think the cool part was that Mikki had already heard good things about me and had seen me play basketball. She offered me the job and I happily accepted.
What new skills have you acquired?
Being a Czar has definitely given me a huge sense of responsibility. I was possibly the youngest of all the Czars when I first started, because most were juniors and seniors — so there was a lot I had to learn. It has also helped me out with my communication and leadership skills. As a Czar, I have had to be in meetings explaining the league, as well as answering questions. When the league starts, communicating not only with scorekeepers and refs, but also with team captains, has been essential to ensuring that game nights run smoothly. With that said, I think it has also helped me out in staying organized, with work schedules, game schedules, and communicating with others so that the game nights go well.
How will your student employment experience help you in your future?
Because it is a leadership position for IM sports, a lot of the skills I have gained will definitely help me when I enter the workforce. Communication, organization, and teamwork, as well as being a leader, are some of the skills that I feel are essential for someone to have when applying for jobs, because they show that you are able to be in charge of something as well as manage it.
What type of person do you feel is best suited for this position?
I think people who are good at communication and who are able to get along with others are great for the job. It involves a lot of communicating and talking to others, so a people-person would be wonderful. If you are interested in sports, and have perhaps had a leadership position, then definitely apply. There are also Czars for other IM sports, so it’s not just basketball. There are a lot of people who love basketball, so it is one of the busy ones, but it is super fun when it all comes together.
What do you like best about your student employment position?
I love the number of people that I have gotten to meet (whether it be team captains, refs, or scorekeepers) — they are all really awesome and respectful. I think what is even better, and something that I love tons, is that because I love playing basketball and am a team member for some of the teams, I get to do my job AND do something I enjoy doing at the same time.