Week 2 Part 2: Habitat for Humanity

As Thursday rolled around, all the interns arrived at the Fawcett Center at 8:45 a.m. for our excursion to the other side of Columbus to help with a build for Habitat for Humanity. While we waited to load the CABS bus, Tyler Jones helped pass out BuckeyesCare t-shirts which he instructed us to wear for the day so we all looked uniform. Then, the interns loaded the bus and eagerly chatted with one another until the construction site appeared 20 minutes later. When we reached our destination, everyone breathed a sigh of relief because the foundation and structure of the house had already been built. During our ride over, the interns fretted over ruining a family’s home from their lack of construction knowledge and hoped our help would not be in vain. Fortunately, Dale, our leader for the day, was a well-trained construction worker who told us he could assist with and teach us different jobs.

Embedded image permalink

When we first entered the home, Dale greeted and instructed us to fill out a sign in sheet and another form before we could get started. After we had completed this initial paperwork, Dale introduced himself and the three other men who would be helping us. Then, he explained the mission of Habitat for Humanity was to eliminate substandard housing locally and worldwide through constructing, rehabilitating and preserving homes. They also provide training and access to resources to help families improve their living conditions. Following his debriefing, Dale gave us a tour of the home and explained the different projects we would work on for the day. He stressed the importance of safety, quality and quantity before we divided into four groups to work on various tasks both on the inside and outside of the house. Some of the interns installed insulated boards on the sides of the house, others built walls in the upstairs and the rest of us cleaned and caulked the basement.

Embedded image permalink

Throughout the day, we took a couple of water breaks outside where the weather was absolutely gorgeous. Happiness and excitement radiated out of everyone over the help we were providing to a family in need. The water breaks never lasted long, since the interns were eager to get back to their jobs and complete them the best they could in the short time left. Before we knew it, our time to leave had arrived, but we accomplished a significant amount of progress in four hours and the volunteers were very grateful for our help. As we left, every intern thanked the men for giving us this amazing opportunity to help give a family a better life. One of my fellow interns, Lamar Bruton, who works with student life, spoke of his experience on the bus ride back stating “It was really rewarding working together with my fellow Buckeyes on a project that would have such an impact on a family’s life” and he continued, “I’m proud to say my group and I finished the basement! AWESOME!” Gordie Koerber, an intern for Sports Administration, added “”Habitat for Humanity was an excellent experience that provided an opportunity to give back and contribute to the local community.”

Embedded image permalink

Week 2 Part 1: LiFE Sports Camp

The second week of Bucks Go Pro got rolling bright and early Monday morning as we ventured to the OSU ice rink to prepare for a day full of activities with children participating in this year’s Life Sports Camp. Every intern was very excited to take part in this youth development initiative, since it provides valuable learning experiences and transforms the lives of at-risk youth through sports and physical fitness activities. As we arrived at our meeting location at 7:30 a.m., the camp staff and Bucks Go Pro interns filed into the chilly ice rink and sat down in the bleachers. Then, the camp leaders passed out a map of campus and a list of locations with corresponding activities we were to take the campers to from 8-11:30 that morning. After our debriefing, the interns found and acquainted ourselves with the staff members we had been paired with for the day while waiting for the children to arrive off of their buses.

IMG_7636     Around 8 a.m. the children began pouring into the ice rink, dancing to the music booming out of the speakers in the room. Each child had received juice and breakfast food, which the children surrounding me were chowing down on, and I could not help but be a tad jealous because the food looked delicious! After attendance had been taken, each group was called to leave the room one-by-one and begin their scavenger hunt for the day. My group was one of the last to go because we were number six, but my group did not mind since our lower number also gave us the earlier lunch. As we exited the room and embarked on our journey, the children in my group eagerly chattered with one another and skipped around full of energy. Our first stop was at Scott Lab where the instructions on our paper told us to take an O-H-I-O picture underneath the sky walk. After this, we walked a few minutes down the road to Smith Lab to hear a presentation on engineering and to Denney Hall for a presentation on medicine. The children were fascinated by both the engineer and doctors, and I could hear them eagerly telling each other they wanted to be in both of those professions when they grow up.

IMG_7774IMG_7772

Before heading to lunch, we finished up our scavenger hunt by making stops at different buildings on campus to hear presentations from an event planner and the police, learn about campus life at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion and shoot some hoops at the Recreation and Physical Activity Center (RPAC). There were a handful of other stops that included presentations on geology, nutrition, nursing, cancer research, sports psychology and many more but unfortunately, my group did not have time to reach them all as campus stretches a good distance from one place to the next.IMG_7773IMG_7775

After a hearty lunch, half of the groups made our way over to The Shoe to hear a presentation from the OSU Marching Band. The children excitedly raised their hands to answer questions the band director asked and I was surprised to learn just how many of the kids could play an instrument! Then, 15 members from the marching and athletics bands entered the room carrying an array of instruments the kids stared at in awe. When the band began to play songs ranging from Hang on Sloopy to Buckeye Swag, the campers tapped their feet, swayed their heads or played the air drums. At the end, the children got an opportunity to ask the band members questions about their instruments or why they majored in music before returning happily to their buses, eagerly devouring a cold ice cream sandwich amidst the hot day.

IMG_7649

Overall, the day was definitely an eye opener for my fellow interns and me as we worked with kids in need of support and guidance. One girl stuck by my side the entire day and begged for me to come back the following day, which surprised me because I had not realized how much of an impact we had made on the children in such a short time. When I told her I could not stay because of work the next day, she told me to let my boss know she was going to steal me, which made me chuckle. After meeting up with the other interns at the end of the day, I heard Alexis Degler, an intern for the development department, talking about how she loved the experience. Everyone surrounding her listened as she said, “I love working with kids and especially those right here in Columbus. I think it is extremely important as student-athletes to connect with boys and girls who struggle from day to day because we are their role models in the community, so they look up to us.” This became apparent to all of the interns as we discovered how many of the campers gravitated toward us wanting to hang out and learn about our sports. Looking back at the day, every intern left with a sense of satisfaction in knowing we had made a positive impact on the children and were even more excited for our volunteer work for the next day this week.

Week 1: Bucks Go Pro Retreat 2015

Bucks Go Pro 4

As I traveled to our meeting spot at the Outdoor Adventure Center on Wednesday at 8 a.m., the weather appeared less than promising for our planned retreat to Alum Creek State Park. Everyone was scrambling into the building from their cars in hopes of spending the least amount of time in the downpour that threatened to leave you feeling like you just went for a swim. Granted I had just come from swim practice with my teammate Katy Luchansky, who is a trademarking and licensing intern, but we still avoided the rain at all costs! When we entered the building, everyone was sitting in the lobby of the OAC dressed in t-shirts, shorts and tennis shoes looking ready for a fun day full of activities. Tyler Young, the Outdoor Leadership program coordinator, notified us our adventure would remain inside for the day unless any of us wanted to volunteer ourselves as lightning rods. Luckily, there were no takers, so we began the day by splitting up into two groups: scarlet and gray.

I found myself in the scarlet group, which consisted of 13 of the interns and we ventured through the OAC to a soccer field located in the back while the gray team remained in the front of the building. The building was quite loud that morning since more than 100 kids filled the adjacent fields for a camp, but it did not disrupt our activities at all. The first team building activity my group undertook was called pipeline. The goal was to transfer balls of all shapes and sizes from one bucket to another about 20 feet away as fast as possible in five minutes only using one piece of pipe per person. On my groups first time around, we managed to get 13 balls into the ending bucket by passing the ball from one person’s pipe to another’s and rotating to the end of the line once it passed through yours. We felt as if we could land a higher number of balls in the bucket so after developing a new strategy, my group eagerly began the task again by deciding to divide and conquer. We split ourselves into small groups and worked or way to the bucket with multiple balls at a time. This method allowed us to get 20 balls this time and all of us were very pleased with this feat. At the end of the day, we came to find out the gray team had managed to get 47 balls by using a different strategy!

Our next activity remained on the same field, but at the opposite end where there was a large metal frame set up with yarn tied in different ways to create various sizes and shapes of openings. The instructors told us we must pass our whole team through one hole to the other side only using one opening per person and two people must be blindfolded. With the rules in mind, my team began collaborating on what strategy to use. We decided to have one of the guys go through first so he could catch the girls who would be sent through the openings at the top. I went through one of the top holes blindfolded, using my swimming experience to form a tight streamline as they squeezed me through to the other side. Eventually, my whole group accomplished our task of everyone reaching the other side and we discussed how communication and teamwork allowed us to efficiently conquer the endeavor.

After these two activities, we rotated locations with the gray team and started our third activity of the day by gathering around a line that was fixed to the ground at the two ends and the middle with bright green tape. Our instructor informed us the one end meant strongly agree and the other end indicated strongly disagree while the middle was neutral. Then, he read us a series of statements ranging from I believe that I am a leader on my sports team to people will consider me a leader in the workplace. These statements were designed to incorporate our sports history with our new experience in Bucks Go Pro and get us thinking about leadership in relation to both of these aspects of our lives. After each statement was read, one or two people elaborated on why they agreed or disagreed to a certain extent, which let us get to know one another better.

Next, it was time for another challenging activity and our instructor laid out an interesting contraption constructed of a wooden center with pieces of ropes extending out to form what resembled a spider. He directed each person to grab a piece of rope with one hand and practice moving the contraption together with a cup of water balancing in the middle. The goal was to transport the contraption from the beginning to a green ‘X’ located across the room. Obstacles littered our way, but my group successfully completed the challenge without spilling a drop of water. However, the instructor increased the difficulty by hiding the green ‘X’ in a new location while half of our team put on blindfolds. Once again, I found myself blind as we attempted to conquer yet another activity, but I had Craig Dalrymple, the facilities intern, to guide me along and keep me from running into any obstacles or dropping the rope. Each blindfolded person was helped along by a fellow intern so we could efficiently complete our mission. After what seemed like a long time in the dark, I was finally able to remove my blindfold because my group had reached the ‘X’ without spilling the water. We discussed how this was due to our great teamwork abilities and trust in one another.

Embedded image permalink

Following this, we were led into a room where an array of bandanas sat in front of us and I knew I was going to find myself blind once more. As we tied our blindfolds around our eyes, Tyler told us we would be led into a maze and we must find our way out. If we had any questions, he told us we must raise our hands and someone would place their hand on our shoulder, but only two questions would receive answers. With his short debriefing in mind, they led us out of the room with one hand on the shoulder of the person in front of us and worry clouding our heads. The walls of the maze were constructed with rope and after multiple laps around, I discovered it was a circle. However, I could not bring myself to think of the right questions to ask: Where is the exit? Do we just climb under the rope?. Then, multiple people began to escape the maze and I finally thought to ask for help. A hand guided me out of the maze and after everyone had finished, Tyler explained the lesson of the activity was that we should always ask for help when we need it.

The day was coming to an end, but we still had two more activities to complete. Once again, we switched places with the gray team, silently praying for them as they made their way towards the frustrating maze. However, our activity turned out to be equally exasperating since we had to move a large, wooden A-frame from one end of the field to the other using only four pieces of rope while a person stood in the frame. Also, the frame always had to touch the ground in at least one spot and could not drag across the grass. With those rules in mind, my team decided to stand the A-frame upright and attach two ropes to the top and two ropes at the leg while the smallest member of our group, Nicole Miyashiro, the human resources intern, stood inside the frame. This method ended up only getting us half way, but proved extremely risky as the frame nearly squished Nicole a handful of times. So, we ended up tying three ropes to the top and one at the base of the frame while Craig walked the base from leg to leg to the finish line. This activity definitely took the most collaboration and teamwork since it was the most difficult and tricky, but my group worked together effectively and found success.

As our fun day came to a close, the scarlet and gray groups gathered together to start one last activity where there was a large circle filled with balls and stuffed animals of random shapes, colors and sizes. Tyler instructed us to find a partner and that one person would be the ‘tank’ and the other would be the ‘commander.’ The tank was required to be on all fours and blindfolded while the commander shouted out directions to the tank on where to find ‘artillery’ and to aim to hit another tank and get them out after three hits. In the next round, the goal was to get as much artillery as you could in any way possible, so many people wrestled over balls and animals. One poor stuffed giraffe suffered the wrath of Yianni Sarris and Kevin Duffy as they tore it in half on accident!

Overall, the rain did not put a damper on our day since we made the most of our indoor adventure from start to finish. Everyone learned so much more about one another and started new friendships that will last long after Bucks Go Pro ends. Needless to say, the retreat was a resounding success and all the interns are excited about our next six weeks together.

 

Our First Day on the Job: Welcome to Bucks Go Pro 3.0

Hello! My name is Cheyenne Meek, and I am an upcoming sophomore on The Ohio State women’s swimming team and intern for athletics communications. For the next seven weeks, I will be blogging all about the events and lessons my fellow interns and I will attend and learn about this summer through the Bucks Go Pro internship. Each of us has been given the opportunity to work in a specific area in The Ohio State Department of Athletics, which includes human resources, fan experience, event management, development, sports administration and 18 more departments. This week is equally exciting and nerve-racking for us 25 student-athletes, since it marks the start of the third summer of the Bucks Go Pro internship program. The format of the internship specifies that on Mondays and Wednesdays all of us gather together and listen to guest speakers, go on field trips and work on our group projects. Then on Tuesdays and Thursdays, we branch off into our specific area where we learn more about our department and what tasks must be completed for athletics at Ohio State to run efficiently.

bucksgopro1

On the first day of the internship, Monday, all 25 interns gathered at the Fawcett Center at 9 A.M. for our orientation to the program. Upon arrival, we received a welcome address from Nick Myers, the head coach of Ohio State men’s lacrosse, and Ben Carignan, the program manager for Student-Athlete Development at Ohio State. Coach Myers began the day by sitting down with us to divulge some wisdom he gained working as an intern and how it enabled him to achieve his dream job. He persuaded us to be ambitious and pursue a career we are passionate about that allows us to grow, rather than settle for a job with a nice salary and stability that gives us a sense of security. Next up was Mr. Carignan and he stressed the importance of an internship and how we have an abundance of opportunities right out our door with Columbus being the 15th largest city in the United States and ranking first for having the most opportunity too. He made us write down on a colorful flashcard a goal we hope to achieve through our internship, a difficulty that could keep us from attaining this and ways to overcome that challenge.

bucksgopro2

After we received helpful advice from these two professionals and filled out additional paperwork, we had the opportunity to stand up in front of the group to introduce ourselves and explain what made us want to be a part of our department for Bucks Go Pro. We heard an array of motives ranging from developing professional skills to partaking in work that he or she has a passion for. Following this mini icebreaker, Krissy Mullins, human resources generalist, informed us we would be going on a scavenger hunt throughout the Fawcett Center to learn about each department and where it is located. John Holman, a student life intern, eagerly shouted out, “What prize do the winners get?” and LaToya Farris, assistant director of Student-Athlete Career Management, responded to his outburst by cleverly stating, “The winners get the pride of knowing they won,” which got the room chuckling. They divided us up into five groups and sent us on our way with three clues at a time warning us there was a chance one elevator might get stuck and against taking the back staircase because we will get locked out until the first floor! The scavenger hunt had an air of competitiveness to it since all of the interns are athletes. Therefore, we all raced to the elevators laughing with a plan of attack on how to figure out each hint the fastest. Each clue had a sentence or two describing a department and another line that gave a tricky fact about a person who works with that area. For instance, the clue for the person who worked for the human resources department stated the person we were searching for had worked as an employee for Build-A-Bear. Our goal was to find both the floor that department was located on and the person the clue referenced by going around, introducing ourselves and conversing with employees. Everyone was extremely friendly and my group stopped to talk with the people we met. We even got to see a picture of an employee’s baby, a large cut-out of Halle Berry‘s face and a ton of different hockey pucks! Sadly, my group finished in last because of our talkativeness, but we could care less since we met so many nice people and heard the interesting stories they had to tell.

bucksgopro3

To finish up the day, we were split up once more into four groups and given a group project we get to work on for the next seven weeks for about an hour on the days we gather together. The four projects include Thank You Week, Career Services Programming, Fan Experience Social Media and the Welcome Back Reception. Each of our groups is responsible for planning these events in detail so that next year they can run successfully. Also, we learned that on our last day together, we will present our plan for our project in front of the entire athletics department, which definitely is a little scary, but all of our groups are very excited to plan such important events on our own and show what we have to offer!