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| Hunter Pittman |
By Hunter Pittman, Class of 2014
This semester I had an internship with ¡Adelante! Hispanic Achievers. I had previously worked with the organization last spring as a volunteer tutor and mentor for the after-school program on Thursdays. Now I have taken over as the Sport for Development Facilitator and UofL Intern. I am one of 3 staff and work 15-25 hours a week, with scheduled work on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. I am extremely grateful for this opportunity because Sport for Development and Olympism are two fields in which I have great interest and am considering further study and a career.
It has often times been an extremely tiring and stressful position to hold, but I really like working with the kids, volunteers, and rest of the staff. I also feel very strongly about the mission of the organization. I felt like I have grown quite a bit from this experience. Helping to shape the lives of around 150 kids every week comes with a great deal of responsibility. My duties have included creating and implementing sport programming, tutoring, activities, interactive seminars, and also just the straightforward task of being a role model. I think I am at an advantage because I am not much older than many of the kids I work with and am oftentimes better able to relate and reason with them than others are.
It is a great thing that the McConnell Scholars Program requires all of its Scholars to participate in at least one internship before graduation. How else would you know if you really know if you even like what you want to commit your life to? While classes are important, you never really know what you can or want to do until you are thrust into the field. I am not sure I would have made the commitment without the requirement from the program. Needless to say, I am very glad I did, so thank you, McConnell Scholars Program.
Hunter Pittman, of Christian County, Ky., is a junior McConnell Scholar at the University of Louisville. He is studying political science, anthropology and sports administration.