My
journey has a lot of twists and turns in it and I didn’t see myself invested in
a sports management degree until recently.
In fact at the beginning, college didn’t even seem attainable to me. After graduating high school, I didn’t really
have any aspiration to go on to college immediately. I was tired of school to say the least after
my turbulent time in high school. I had
to try to keep busy somehow cause no one in my family would stand for me for
not doing anything for more than a few months.
So despite my dismay, I went through with Middlesex County College and
sure enough I dropped out of all my classes in my first semester. Not the story book journey that most people
take but as far as I was concerned, I
would instead spend my time figuring out where I fit in the world
professionally. During this time, I
picked up some job experience working in kitchens in senior living facilities
until a friend suggested looking into things I love and look up careers in
them. That suggestion as well as doing a
career test to see where my interest might lie brought me to sports medicine,
mainly physical therapy. Being a big
sports fan, I fit right in to this profession. This is where I had my first
true sense of direction since leaving high school and the feeling was unreal.
That coupled with my time off to clear my head molded me into a capable human
without me knowing.
This
is where I suddenly caught my second wind and went back to Middlesex County
College in 2015, all while securing a job as a physical therapy aide (PTA) in
Lawrenceville in 2016. The research I did on the physical therapy field also
inspired me to go for certificates in CPR and PTA training, putting me on
another level above most physical therapy aides. Before I knew it I was days
away from getting an associate’s degree, had years of PTA experience and was
looking to transfer to Rutgers University.
Everything in my past that led me to Collier was an afterthought at this
point and I realized that none of it should have defined me as a person because
it is in the past. What kind of person I
was in the future was all that counted and my confidence in becoming the man I
wanted to be was through the roof. It
was all because I took time to explore the world until I had that moment of
learning my path to success. Now things
like being part of a massive university like Rutgers didn’t intimidate me in
the slightest. However, the curriculum
did eventually get to me.
Studying
to get an exercise science degree at RU was painful to say the least as the
levels of science and math were too much to handle. Roadblocks in life happen
all the time. I've been through them
since I was a kid so while I was down about switching majors and giving up my
PT goal after all my hard work, it would not halt my charge. I was too determined to give in to not
getting a degree, my family had too much riding on me not graduating and my
friends had too much faith in me to not let me push through. So I switched to the next best degree, sport
management where I’m more than likely pursuing a career as a sport agent. There
are many opportunities in this field however, that could involve me working in
all types of settings all while being invested in one of my favorite past
times, sports. Broadcasting, marketing,
sales, event planning, managing an organization are just a handful of the many
avenues sport management provides and I was not intimidated. In fact, this journey gave me something more
valuable than the education or job experience itself, it restored my
confidence, determination and gave me a direction in life.
I
never looked back at my past and short changed my ability to be someone, no
matter the pain I experienced, the people who influenced me down a bad path or
certain people’s lack of faith in me.
That is all outside influence that has nothing to do with me as a
person. You have the ability to be
whatever you want even through the hardest times in your life. If you need to let that negative energy fuel
you to reach your goals, once you obtain them, you just proved everyone wrong
and you have the power at that moment.
So I would look into
things that interest you, there could be a career path there that may lead into
many more along with a wide variety of connections with like minded people like
you. Whenever you are shrouded in pain and people that want to see you fail,
remember the goal you set out to accomplish.
Picture yourself as that desired version of yourself and watch it fuel
you towards what you want to accomplish.
It is by no means easy, I can attest to that and at times I wanted to
quit, but you can’t have growth as a person without struggle and pain. Strength
and pain actually help to mold who you are as a person, but that is only if you
take it in stride and not let it beat you into submission. Remember that everyone has the capacity to be
great, so don’t ever doubt what you are capable of before even attempting
it. Believe you have the ability because
you do, if you work hard enough you will find that you are capable. When it is
all said and done you can look back and bask in your accomplishments and see
how you got from where you were from your past to now. There is nothing quite like that feeling.
-Remy
Rutgers University Class of 2020