Hey everybody, my name is Kevin Bodle and I am a  recent graduate of Central Washington University.  
I attended my undergrad at Central and got  my bachelor of science in Sport Management  
in 2020. I specialized in sport coaching and  sport business. I am a recent graduate from  
the Sport/Athletic Administration program this  last year in 2022. Currently, I am an athletic  
academic advisor at Fresno State. So, I am looking  forward to the future and am excited to be here.  
Central Washington, as a school, was a great  fit for me just because of the location being  
very close to home as well as the size  of the student body. I thought it was  
very reminiscent of my hometown, I felt I would  feel comfortable to grow as a person at Central.  
As far as the Sport Management program itself,  when I was a Sophomore and I was finishing up  
my GE's, I knew I wanted a career in sport,  but I wasn't sure what I wanted to do yet.  
I think as a new major offering, and it was  offering sport coaching, sport business as well  
as recreation management. I felt like, on paper it  seemed like it would not only be a great fit for   me to figure out what I wanted to do in sport, but  ultimately help me figure out how to get there.  
Another thing that was very appealing to  me was the student-faculty ratio. I thought   it was extremely manageable, as many of my  courses had roughly 20-25 students in them.  
So, it was comforting to know I could  work closely with our faculty if I   ever had any questions. But also  to better help my career goals.  
Continuing with the topic of faculty, the sport  management faculty were incredibly helpful to me  
and my development. In full transparency,  I truly would not be where I am at today   without the guidance and mentorship of our sport  management professors. When I was a student in the  
undergrad program, the faculty I interacted with  the most were Dr. Weis, Dr. McGladrey, Dr. Dahlin,  
Dr. Perkins, and Dr. Rolfe. Each and every one of  them were invested in my growth and development  
and I think that really does speak to their  character and who they are as people. These guys   really care about you as a student and they truly  want to see you succeed in your endeavors and  
that's something that is really special in this  program. Now working with this group, I was able   to learn a lot of foundational skills that are  applicable to the sporting world. But, I was also  
able to get involved with various internships and  extra-curricular organizations that also gave a  
chance to develop my skills and build my network.  I don't think every program in the country is set  
up like this, so they really do care about  you getting that opportunity at Central.  
Ultimately, I was able to intern with our football  team, as well as our academic success department  
during my timeline at Central. The knowledge I  learned and the relationships I built are truly  
what led to me in my current position. I was  able to network with all of our senior staff in  
our athletic department and I was lucky enough  to be able to rely on them for mentorship that   helped prepare me for my Fresno State interview.  I'm still fortunate that I am able to rely on them  
for mentorship in my current position even  though I'm outside those walls at Central.  
The internship itself, as the extra-curricular  activity I benefited from the most, because a  
lot of things went into finding where I wanted to  intern, working with Dr. Dahlin on figuring out  
if that was a good fit, and getting introduced  to those I was interning with. That's just the  
planning phase, but I do think that the fact that  you do have internships you can take for credit,  
I think those are the most  valuable takeaways I have.  
One of the intro classes, was actually really  eye-opening to me, because it introduced me   to a lot of different leadership styles,  and the other thing is that everyone is  
a leader. You don't have to be a leader in  one situation to still be a leader. Because,   different situations call for different  skill sets, so it is important to recognize,  
how your role as a leader but also as a  follower can play in different settings.  
Learning what kind of leader I want to be,  as well as, the tips, strategies, and styles  
I need to employ in order to gain buy-in from  my followers in different settings. As well as,  
how I should behave or interact as a follower in  certain settings when I know I'm not necessarily  
the one with the information needed to lead  the group. I think learning fundamental  
skills about leadership and followership was  something that was very enlightening for me.  
One of my parting tips would be, to be deliberate  with your time, be intentional with your time,  
because you're only there for so many years. You  need to be involved with the extra-curricular  
activities like the Sport Management Association.  You need to be networking with your professors,   try to build those relationships. You should be  trying to network with your peers in the program,  
because you really don't know who might be able  to help you get to your next spot in life. If   you're not building those relationships,  if you're not careful with your time,  
then it's likely you might miss out on some  of those opportunities. On that same note,  
a second tip from me would be to utilize your  resources. I brought up the professors there,  
the faculty at Central Washington earlier. They  truly are there to help you succeed, they want you   to succeed in your endeavors. They want to help  you figure out what you're passionate about and  
help you get there. So, please be utilizing them  as resources and working with them on finding out  
what your career goals are and letting them help  you, because that's what they are there to do.  
I think the third tip that I have is, it's  about this kind of cliché quote that I'm sure  
a lot of us have heard about: "In sport it's  all about who you know". Well, Mal Stewman,  
my old boss at Central Washington and current  Assistant Athletic Director back there,   he took it a step further he said: "Kevin, it's  not just about who you know, it's about who knows  
you". I may know so-and-so who works at a company  that I want to go work at, but does he know me?  
Does he know who I am as a person? Is he willing  to write a reference report for me that could   help me get a job there? If I'm not building those  relationships with him, then ultimately it's not  
going to do as much. So, it's about who knows  you. Again, be deliberate with your time, make  
sure you're building those relationships, and that  you're maximizing the resources that you have,   and again make sure people know who you are  and that you're networking as much as possible.