A day in the life of a sports management major starts with a good morning breakfast. According to Taylor Chase, a junior sports management major, she likes to start the day with a coffee and cereal. “Starbucks is the first place I go before I start my day of classes. I typically have 3-4 classes a day that start around 10 and end around 3.” After finishing her multiple classes for the day, Taylor heads back to her apartment where she has a small break to eat lunch and relax before going to golf practice, where she is on the golf team. For practice, Taylor usually plays 9 holes and finishes after 2 and a half hours. Taylor then heads back to her apartment, makes dinner, and starts to destress for the night. She spends an average of 1-2 hours on homework and studying for the night, then she watches Netflix for the rest of the night. Her days do not differ from this routine and are usually the same as this one. Taylor and I share many classes with one another and our advisor, Thad Walker, teaches them. Professor Walker oversees all sports management majors and the practicum classes that require us to come up with games in small groups, market them to the Millikin population, and host them for the students of Millikin. “We have some great turnouts then some not so great turnouts, but we make the most of it and have fun with those who do show up,” Taylor said. The reasoning behind having so many games a semester is all a part of Professor Walker’s outlook on learning. “I do not believe in tests, and I do not think that students learn from them. Millikin is a performance-learning school, so I see how so many students benefit from doing performance learning throughout their classes,” states Professor Walker. The sports management students learn how to run a game like, bags, kickball, softball, basketball, and more. They also learn the skills of how to market the game and gain supplies and a space from Millikin. Professor Walker also states, “My students get so many things out of learning how to run their own games and activities. One large skill that I stress is teamwork. When they graduate and go into the real world, they will have to work with many kinds of people in many kinds of places, so I try to set them up to have the best experiences possible.” As a student in sports management, I have learned so much from Professor Walker and I have so many skills that can be applied outside of Millikin. A piece of advice for those in the same major would be to focus on academics and create ties with your instructors, because there are 3-4 professors that will teach your classes every year that you are at Millikin. It is super important to create good relationships with your peers and instructors to better your education at Millikin.
First Picture: Taylor Chase
Second Picture: Thad Walker
Author Bio: I am Carson Reynolds, and I am a junior sports management major at Millikin University. I am a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon and of the golf team. I am obsessed with the TV show FRIENDS, and I have probably seen every movie ever made. I have three cats at home, and I drink more Dr. Pepper than water. I am an avid video game player and could beat anyone at Madden. Sports mean everything to me and my family, and I religiously root for Notre Dame, St. Louis Cardinals, Kentucky Wildcats, and Minnesota Timberwolves. Overall, I am an outgoing individual with a passion for sports and television.
Third Picture: Author (Me)