Reflections from Vasa’s summer intern
By Galen Broido
A competitive swimmer’s summer usually consists of early morning practices, swim coaching, life-guarding and one-piece tan lines.
Although the sport of swimming is one that I have, do and will always love, I promised myself that my summers would not look like this. I felt I needed a separation from my training and my work.
When I arrived home after my first collegiate swim season at UNC Asheville this spring, I was looking for new work experience, something that related to my interest in a Mass Communications major.
The opportunity for a summer internship at Vasa seemed liked a match made in heaven for many reasons:
- I would be working with the marketing team (there’s the Mass Communication connection!) to create a Training Guide for new Vasa owners.
- Working at Vasa would allow me to gain valuable work experience that was very different from anything I’d experienced before (which mainly consisted of wading knee-deep in vegetables at a farm!).
- A local Vermont company that strives to help athletes (swimmers specifically!) improve their training and racing.
- As a company that works with and for athletes, they agreed to accommodate my own training schedule.
Balancing work with a difficult practice schedule is a challenge.
However, any worries I had about the parallels between my training and my work were soon put to rest. I not only learned the ropes of working in an office setting, but I also learned more than I could have imagined about the sport of swimming.
By compiling information for the Training Guide, I learned the marketing and business side of working in an office. I’ve also gained a focus for what I would like to study at school. Through all of the spreadsheets and research documents I made, I absorbed more information than I could have imagined about the sport of swimming. From tips coaches gave, to sports psychology, I have a new perspective on the sport I thought I knew so much about.
