Student Athletes participate in SEC Career Tour

By: Corinne Meglic

This year, 28 student-athletes in the SEC conference were selected to be apart of the SEC Career Tour on November 27th-29th in Atlanta. In 2016, there was only 26 student-athletes invited to the career tour. This is the third year that the SEC has been doing the career tour that has lead up to the SEC football championship game. The main goal of the SEC career tour is to give the student-athletes exposure to different businesses and jobs out there. This will give them an inside look at what is in various fields and figure out what they want to do after college.

The 2018 career tour group visited the headquarters and met with different executives that were involved in the Atlanta area, including The Home Depot, Atlanta Hawks, UPS and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. The 2016 career tour group toured the headquarters and met with different executives as well. The 2016 group met with Chick-Fil-A, Boys & Girls Club of America and CNN/Turner Broadcasting System. Both 2016 and 2018 groups had presentations and speeches from leaders of different organizations and even a few student-athletes who talked about leadership and life after sports.

In the 2018 career tour, the student-athletes got to hear presentations from Josh Foliart who is a former Arkansas football player. He is also the co-founder and CEO of the MULTIPLi Global company. The group also heard from Randy Hain who is the founder and president of his company Serviam Partners. Both of these leaders talked about how the student-athletes should start their process and connections early. They encouraged the student-athletes to build up their resume with many experiences and be aware of how they want to lead in the future.

In the 2016 career tour, the student-athletes got to hear speeches from Randy Hain as well and two other student-athletes. The two student-athletes were Beatriz Travalon (Auburn swimming and diving) and Haley Clark (Georgia women’s basketball) and they were in charge of leading the group in a discussion on how the SEC career tour helped them during their job search process.

Below are comments made by three student-athletes describing their experience at the SEC career tour.

In the 2018 SEC career group, Lachlan McPhee from Vanderbilt stated, “The Career Tour experience showed me that the athletics side of the SEC can be a stepping stone into a place where we can contribute to society. The SEC sees that and helps use our sport to nurture the academics side of the athletes. It's great that they gave us this experience and showed us how important we are to them."

In the 2016 SEC career group, Thomas Mayronne from South Carolina states that, “I think it was one of the most valuable experiences I've had since I've been at the University of South Carolina. We toured their facilities, talked to their top executives about their business strategies, how they run their business compared to others, and what they center their organization's culture around.”

Also in the 2016 SEC career group was Kaylea Snaer from South Carolina who had the same experience as Thomas. She says, “My mind was blown. I've never been exposed to how many different kinds of jobs there are in corporate America. Overall, it was a very inviting and open atmosphere. I thought I always knew what I wanted to do, but this trip influenced me to take a step back and see what I am passionate about in other areas.”

Not only was it very beneficial for these student-athletes to be exposed to these companies and businesses, but it was good for them to be around other student-athletes as well. They had many takeaways from these leaders but the student-athletes also enjoyed being around those who were just as motivated as them. Snear also states, “At CNN, we met a panel of former athletes in all kinds of different jobs and how they got there. Getting perspectives from former student-athletes who are now in the corporate world was extremely valuable. hey gave us their personal stories in how they transferred their abilities in athletics so they could be successful in business. Everybody had really good questions, and they told us things to look out for, and how we can better find opportunities and internships.”

After three days filled of presentations, speeches, communicating with leaders and bonding with other student-athletes, everyone had their own takeaways that stuck with them. For some it was getting to know others, learning how to communicate or even learning what you truly want to do. It is very enjoyable for not only the student-athletes, but the leaders who come to present themselves as well. Misty Brown, the SEC’s Director of Student-Athlete Engagement said, “During my visit with student-athletes over the past year, this is what they ask for most. The Conference office as well the Corporations involved are equally excited to offer and participate in this program.” This experience is very exciting for both sides participating in this event. Even though the student-athletes are learning more material and experience from this event, it is very exciting for these leaders to come and share what they are passionate about to potential future employees.

Being a student-athlete myself, I believe this opportunity is rare and everyone should take advantage of it, if they are given the chance. You are given the opportunity to not only gain personal skills, but to build connections and truly figure out what you want to do with your future. If I was given this chance, I would not turn it down. The student-athletes that were asked to attend this career tour were very lucky and benefited from this event in many ways. Overall, this opportunity not only prepared these student-athletes for their lives at the moment, but down the road so they are prepared for anything that life brings their way.