Five Kats participate in NCAA symposium
10/25/2011 4:38:00 PM | Athletics
Morgan Davis, Scottie Jones, Henry Jordan, Chanice Smith and Jenny Zoch - all SAAC representatives from their various sports teams at Sam Houston State - were part of the career-driven initiative presented by the NCAA.
The event was open to representatives from NCAA Division I, II and III universities and colleges from Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Louisiana.
Among the topics covered in the event were effective facilitation, leadership skills, resume building and interviewing skills.
"This was a first rate experience for the young men and women who attended," Sam Houston associate athletic director for student affairs Chris Thompson said. "The NCAA brought in several outstanding speakers. Besides the speakers, the student-athletes went through mock interviews to help their job seeking skills. What was especially interesting for them was the information about exploring careers they might not have thought about but for which they are well suited."
The five student-athletes will share the information they received at the symposium to our Champs Life Skills classes and with their teammates in special sessions promoted by the Sam Houston Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
"We came away with a notebook full of information after two days at the symposium," Jones, a member of the Sam Houston State men's track and team, said. "We went through mock interviews, resume critiques and lessons on business etiquette. One of the best segments was called 'Defining You' where we developed our personal mission statement and talked about how we would like our tombstone to read. It was intense but worthwhile."
Jones said another enjoyable aspect of the event was getting to meet and interact with student-athletes from other universities and sports.
"We found a lot of ways that our lives are similar and some ways that we different," Jones said. "It was interesting to look at intercollegiate athletics from a different prospective."
More than 50 student-athletes from the four-state region attended the symposium which was held at the SMU athletic department's facility.
"The symposium is one more method that the NCAA and Sam Houston State University are utilizing to help our student-athletes succeed in life as well as in the arena," Thompson said.
