Last week, senior women's soccer student-athlete Hannah Seabert (along with senior men's volleyball student-athlete Jimmy Gehrels) were lucky enough to attend the NCAA Career in Sports Forum in Indianapolis, Indiana, at the headquarters of the NCAA. The forum is designed to help student-athletes jump start their careers into college athletics by giving them an opportunity to network with the executives of the NCAA as well as hear talks from speakers ranging from Athletic Directors to heads of Departments at schools and the NCAA itself. Seabert told us about her experience:

Q: What exactly was this event that you and fellow Wave Jimmy Gehrels attended this past weekend?

A: It was called the NCAA Career in Sports Forum, and the purpose of it was to help us, as student-athletes,understand the inner-workings of the NCAA and its national office as well as explaining the sports industry and what would be required of us to break into that industry.

Q: Were there other schools were represented there?

A: Yes! It was amazing to see the diversity of schools that attended. There were schools from Divisions I, II, and III. The East Coast, West Coast and the Midwest were all represented as well. Athletes from a multitude of sports attended. For example, I met a bowler, a pole-vaulter and a wrestler, three sports that we don't have at Pepperdine. The variety of athletes and schools was really something to behold.

Q: So this conference was only for student-athletes?

A: Yes, it was a program specifically for student-athletes because we already have a little bit of an understanding of the industry, as we are all currently under the NCAA as athletes. It was really expanding on our, I would say, limited knowledge of the NCAA. It showed and guided us to be able to enter the industry in the right way right from the beginning.

Q: What was the one idea that really stuck with you from this conference?

A: There were so many!There are two that really hit home and stuck with me personally. Our emcee was named Clyde Doughty Jr. He is the Athletic Director at Bowie State, and in one of the sessions, he talked about "The Moment." He spoke about how it is important to be present and aware in the current moment. He drilled it into us.He would chant, "What time is it?! What time is it!?" and we would all shout back, "NOW!!!" The time is always now. He talked about taking advantage of what is in front of you in your current situation instead of looking back into the past or ahead into the future, and going step by step and striving to be presented with the opportunity to be put into the right place.

The second idea that really stuck with me was the importance of networking. I have heard about networking, but it was never really explained to me. At the conference, they really broke it down and taught us how to make the initial contact with someone whether it be in person, or through email, and how important it is to follow up with the contact that we make. It isn't just making the initial contact, but more about the relationship that you form after. They taught us how to keep the relationship going.

Q: Why did those two lessons stick with you so specifically?

A: I think the networking portion stuck with me because before the conference, networking kind of confused me. I wasn't too sure how to do it. I was shy, and felt a little pushy if I tried to contact after the initial conversation, but the conference really taught me that that is just how you make relationships and contacts, especially in this industry. They kept saying how everyone in the industry wants to help us, the next generation of workers in sports.

The reason that "The Moment" stuck with me is because it was repeated so much throughout the week. I think that we can get caught up with all the stress of asking ourselves what we have to do next instead of asking ourselves what we need to do now. We need to love the process and journey of what we want to do. 

Q: How did attending this conference shape the way that you view your future? Do you plan on going into athletics asa career?

A: We were able to talk to so many people who are already in the industry. We would have panels, we would have at least two speakers every day, we would have breakout sessions,and we were able to connect to so many different people. Being able to hear all of those different people's experiences was so helpful in teaching us how to go about getting into this industry. It really built up a confidence with me to know that I can do this and get into this industry.

Q: Going into your senior year, you will make decisions that will affect the rest of your life,including what type of career that you will be pursuing. Did this conference help solidify what you want to do, and how to go about doing it?

A: Absolutely. One person that I got to talk to at the end of the conference was a man named Esteban. He is an intern with the NCAA that helped put the entire conference together, and one thing that we talked about was to choose what you want to do, and go into it with a passion and fervor. And if your interests change, keep that same passion and fervor into whatever that new interest is. You can't go in thinking, "I think I might want to go into this," or "I guess this sounds interesting." You have to go in with a willpower, and if your interests evolve,keep that same intensity and willpower for whatever the new endeavor is. I used to be afraid to tell people what I wanted to do, just in case the interest changed. This conference really showed me that I definitely want to get into collegiate athletics, but also opened my eyes to different things within the industry that could interest me at some point down the road.