My STEP signature project had me working with the Columbus Clippers Baseball Team as a grounds crew intern. I would describe the job as a landscaping job with a baseball spin. Our main duties included taking care of the field by maintaining the turf and mounds that the players would tear up with each practice and game. Our goal was to keep the field looking and playing in the best shape possible.

Throughout my time with the Clippers, I learned a lot about my tolerance for long hours of work. When the team was at home, we would work anywhere from 80-100 hours that week, and when the team was away, we would anywhere from 40-50 hours. While I am comfortable with a regular full-time job and its hours, this was overtime and more work than was promised from the start. I learned how a lack of transparency from leadership can sour the experience for the employees myself included. My worldview became very clear by the end of the time with the clippers, as I see it, most companies do not care for the wellbeing of their staff, we were overworked and underpaid. Many of my coworkers and I shared this same sentiment, we were in a job with a severe overturn rate from year to year and it was clear why. I believe every individual for a company is vitally important and should be treated as such.

The main relationship that I had with the Clippers was with my boss. I thought he was reasonable at first but came to realize how dead wrong. I believe my boss lacked any respect for me as I was rarely granted time off that was requested in a timely manner. I was also very disappointed in how often we were scolded and mistreated. Throughout my internship we lacked leadership from our immediate boss, and it really soured the experience that I thought was genuinely pretty good.

There were several instances where I needed time off for serious family personal matters and was denied. Considering we worked a cluttered schedule and always had time to spare, along with me being ahead on work often, I thought it wouldn’t be an issue, but my boss saw otherwise. I am not only disappointed, but a bit upset at how these situations were handled and hope that I do not run into a boss like the one I had to work with throughout this experience.

Towards the end of my time with the Clippers people on our grounds crew began to quit because of their displeasure with the work environment there. I would say outside of the grounds crew the work environment is fantastic, everyone is friendly and caring. I just unfortunately ended up in the department that works the longest most demanding hours. I believe the lack of leadership, care, and transparency with their employees, lead to several people having to step away before seasons end.

If there’s one thing I can take away from this and learn to apply to my life it’s that I want to work somewhere where I’m valued and cared for. I want to feel that I am an important asset to an organization that is treated with respect, and I want to enjoy what I do, not just stick it out for the paycheck. I will continue to work in the sports industry and hoping that I can continue to find success in the field. This was an eye opening and important experience for me to see and understand about my career field. It is a part of the process of narrowing down my focus to a future job and I am excited to move forward.