Paid In Experience

I was not warned about all the heavy-lifting I would be doing when I started this job. There's something blatantly ironic about carrying things for 15 of the most fit, able-bodied students on campus, but I do it anyways. They also failed to inform me that working ~15 hours/week and traveling on weekends would really interfere with any "normal" social life I anticipated having in college. Top it all off with the janitorial work that I did not sign up for: sweeping the gym floor, cleaning out the fridge, etc. and there are a lot of reasons not to become a basketball manager. And yet, here I am.

Why on Earth would I choose to be an unpaid basketball manager (read: slave) when I could be doing keg stands and joining random student organizations like The Happiness Club? (Mom, if you're reading this, please replace "keg stands" with "study sessions" and replace "The Happiness Club" with "The Pre-Medical Honor Society")

Sure, there are the obvious perks: like the free clothes and early registration for classes. (Thankfully) I can usually count on two free meals per week to offset the dining hall's lack of appeal. And of course, getting to know the players is definitely one of the best parts of my job. But I think it was somewhere between the charter jets and the surf-and-turf dinners that I officially forgot all about the less-glamorous parts of my job. While I'm busy jumping on hotel beds all over the country, my peers back at school are showering with shoes on. When I'm freaking out about a half court buzzer beater to send the game to overtime, my friends back home are untagging subtly ugly pictures of themselves from last weekend. It's also refreshing to have a boss and to be held accountable for something. Especially in college, when hardly anyone from the real world acknowledges your worth (see: unpaid summer internships). The networking is great too. You'd be surprised how many semi-famous people are connected to women's basketball. I've also heard that having several 6-foot tall friends can come in handy when you get into a bar fight/need a light bulb changed/want to see over a large crowd... Although, I haven't personally exploited this yet.

So while thought of getting paid in experience still makes me cringe, I've started to accept that there is more to this job than just handing out water (Keep in mind. It is still mostly just handing out water). If anything, I'm getting some fantastic stories.