Career Trajectory

Leisha Cavallaro

Currently I am a Graduate Assistant for Georgia Southerns Intramural Sports department. I want to remain in campus recreation and make a career out of it. For now I want to stick with intramurals, however, eventually I may want to be the Director of the whole campus recreation department at an institution in the United States. I am gaining valuable and practical experience in the field that will assist me in obtaining a job in this field when I graduate. When I began my college career I knew I wanted to somehow affect students lives. I began with my degree path being Math Education and Psychology, I soon found that math wasnt quite what I wanted to teach so I proceeded drop Math and to obtain my degree only in Psychology. Outside of academics I worked for Intramural Sports at the University of Central Florida all four years in my undergraduate degree. I have a sincere passion for sports and teaching; within rec sports I have been able to impact others lives and teach them things such as officiating, time and conflict management. I have found something that combines both my passions in one job, its wonderful! Throughout those four years I had various experiences and opportunities that lead me to discover my passion for campus recreation. I quickly progressed as an official and had the opportunity to travel to other schools to officiate regional tournaments. The true care I sensed and witnessed from the professionals in the field moved me. They are absolutely dedicated to student development in the fullest. A few of those professionals spent extra time with me and really developed me personally and professionally. My direct boss individually took time to come out to the fields and watch me officiate; he also had meetings with me and learned about me personally and assisted me in many ways outside of work. He truly cared about my well-

being and became a role model and mentor for me over the years. His role in my life is what I want to do for students later on in my career. Another ah ha moment in my life was attending those regional tournaments and conferences. The tournaments also showed me that I could make a career out of what I was currently doing, which I was unaware of previously. Also seeing how much bigger campus recreation was than I thought encouraged me to look further into the career itself. Outside of actually officiating I given the opportunity to go to some regional and national conferences for the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA) where I learned more of what campus recreation and student affairs represents. My first conference was the Emerging Recreation Student Leaders conference, which was a great experience where professionals present on topics applicable to students who work within campus recreation. From there I attended regional and national conferences where I got to be a part of our hiring process and witnessed older students go through their job search. These conferences also hold sessions where other professionals talk about specific subjects or even hold an open forum where professionals from various institutions can learn and share information. I met a lot of new people that have helped me along the way, and learned new things from sessions and brought ideas back to my campus to implement. These conferences furthered my understanding that this profession is intent on developing students and constantly evolving to better themselves and others. I went through that hiring process as a graduating senior and was very fortunate to be offered a position here at Georgia Southern. This intramural program is one of the most well respected programs in the nation, especially with regards to its staff; though I was initially reluctant to accept since I was required to do Higher Education instead of my preference of Sports Management. Through classes and experiences I am coming to realize that higher

education was a viable choice as an education path, especially in this field. In March 2012 I will go through the interview and hiring process again, looking for a full time position in Intramural Sports at the NIRSA National Conference. I hope to obtain a full time position at a wellrespected institution to get my feet wet and get rooted in my abilities as a professional. Eventually Id like to build a program up from the bottom (instead of going to a program such as this that is already well established). One day down the road I would like the opportunity to run an entire campus recreation program, but first I need to work in a specific department: Intramural Sports. In order to get a full time position most institutions require at least 2 years of experience in the field of campus recreation as well as a masters degree. Some even require their applicants have been through a graduate assistantship in the field. I do think it is a lot about who you know but it is important that I keep up my development and resume to make sure that I am a viable applicant come March 2012. Those conferences I attended are a prime form of development. They are focused purely on professional development with structured sessions on various topics within the field. However, on campus I have taken initiatives to implement new programs in our department as well as volunteer at tournaments out of state. These again are great resume builders and networking opportunities, as well as valuable experience and exposure to a multitude of philosophies and procedures used around the field. Outside of my specific department I have delved into other student affairs activities and departments. Volunteering at events such as Helping Hands and Toys for Tots has also brought enjoyment and development through my time in the field. Also participating in various departments activities such as Sport Clubs, Fitness, and Outdoor Adventures has expanded my knowledge of the Campus Recreation field as a whole. Within Intramural Sports and officiating,

I also want to personally advance. This year was my first year officiating high school tackle football; I am the first female in the Southern Association in Georgia. I have worked high school basketball for two years and would like to make it to college. These abilities and experiences will develop me and help me inspire younger officials on staff. With all my experience and aspirations my career trajectory is pretty much set its just a matter of accomplishing those specific steps in my path. First off I need to obtain my Masters degree, without it I will be unable to get any position in higher education. I will continue to personally and professionally develop through various opportunities and conferences I attend; those improvements will undoubtedly make me a more viable candidate. When March 2012 arrives I will make sure I do plenty of research and find the jobs that are open before the National Conference rolls around. Through the conference and interviews I plan to obtain an Intramural Coordinator position at an institution with an established program. After a few years working at that program I would like to move and get a job somewhere that is just starting out or needs work; this way the program would be all my creation. In due time working within intramurals I plan on gaining experience in other areas within Campus Recreation which would then set me up to become a Director down the road. One possible addition to my goals and trajectory is teaching outside of Campus Recreation. I absolutely fell in love with psychology throughout my bachelors degree and would love to teach some classes at a university. Most of my research on this states one would need a masters or doctorate in psychology to teach it at a university. In that sense I do intend to continue to go to school throughout my career and slowly obtain my doctorate in psychology so I could eventually teach classes. Currently my boss teaches some first year classes and my old

boss taught some sports classes which I would also be interested in. This is a side goal that will be attained once my main career trajectory is on course and I obtain a full time job.