The Baldwin Wallace University sport management program is off to Duke University from Nov. 17-19 for an exploratory career experience.   

This year, about 25 students and staff will drive down to Durham, N.C., to meet with Duke’s athletic directors, tour facilities and attend sports games. However, this trip looks a little different from typical experiential trips: no work is involved.   

Associate Professor Charles Campisi, chair of marketing and sport management, told The Exponent that this is an exploratory trip aimed at learning about Duke and its athletic departments in addition to networking with industry professionals.   

Campisi said he believes face-to-face meetings and communication with professionals in the field, like BW alumni Will Pantages and Ryan Sosic, who work for the neighboring Wake Forest University athletic department, will make this experience even more relevant and relatable to BW students and prove that a career in the sport industry is attainable.  

Junior sport management major Alissa Scattino said she believes that first impressions and connections mean everything in landing a job. She said that she is excited to be part of this trip, market herself and network outside of Ohio.   

Bryce Yockel, a junior sport management major, said that networking is vital for a career in sports.  

“Your connections build you up in this work industry, so you have to make connections whenever the opportunity opens,”  Yockel said.  

To finance this outing and other professional development opportunities, sport management students and staff organize fundraisers and host raffles. Both Scattino and David Lamb, a junior sport management major, said that they host fundraisers through major food chains like Chipotle and Raising Cane’s and raffle off Cleveland Browns V.I.P. experience tickets.   

Because of the extensive fundraising, little money typically comes out of students’ pockets. Lamb shared that for this trip in particular, students will each pay $250. This price includes complete coverage of room, food, event admissions and transportation.   

Campisi said the students and staff of the sport management program work hard to prepare for  the hands-on vocational opportunities like Browns games, the College Football Playoff and the Super Bowl, among others.  

“These prestigious venues and organizations know what our students can do. These people keep the doors open for us, and if our students continuously work hard, students in the years to come can also experience once-in-a-lifetime events and opportunities,” Campisi said.   

Hannah Dick, a senior sport management student at BW, said that she receives constant support and guidance from the professors.   

“This kind of support is hard to find. No matter what day it is, they are there to assist you. Our professors don’t limit us,” Dick said.   

“Everyone is so friendly. We are really just a close family,” Scattino said. “And having these opportunities allows for increased student and staff familiarity with one another.”   

Lamb said the students’ hard work will continue so they can continue to receive the prestigious opportunities.   

 “Just because you have the opportunities doesn’t mean you get to keep them or keep receiving them,” Lamb said. “You gotta make a name for yourself and the school.”