Junior Sam Paulak of the Drake University women's golf team participated in the 2020 NCAA Career Sports Forum. The annual event is usually held at the NCAA's office in Indianapolis but changed to a virtual event this year due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.
 
The unique virtual event took place May 27-29 and brought together selected NCAA student-athletes to learn about and explore potential careers in sports, particularly college athletics. The programming experience helped student-athletes chart their career paths, while presenting copious opportunities for attendees to learn from current industry leaders.
 
Paulak, who had her junior season cut short due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, is a double major in International Business and Marketing. She shared her experience with GoDrakeBulldogs.com.
 
"The NCAA Sports forum was an informative experience," said Paulak. "There were multiple guest speakers from a variety of job positions in sports at the collegiate and professional level. Each guest spoke over a specific topic. A few examples include identity, strengths, power of sport, different job roles in sports, and finding your why. It opened my eyes to the work done behind the scenes even from the coach's perspective after working with coaches all my life. Not only did they provide information about their jobs, but they gave additional life career tips. It was motivational and relevant to things we can take action on now. In between sessions, we had the opportunity to briefly connect with other student-athletes all across the nation to learn their passions and interests as well."
 
"One of my favorite speakers was Coach Yo from Ole Miss and Mark Trumbo. They both delivered messages with passion and motivation which speaks to me. I felt encouraged to set high goals that scare me and to make sure I am bringing others with me along the way. Also, it's time to set and stick to your "why". When you find your mission, it becomes a lifestyle. Take time to prep for tomorrow because it will help you stick to your mission and values."
 
"On the last day of the forum, they did a nice job of getting us to think about how we will now apply all the information that we learned. I am still unsure of what I want to do after school, so this was a great educational experience of a deeper explanation of roles and what it takes to get there. The best advice I learned that I would strongly encourage others to do is to volunteer to job shadow more often in things you might be interested in. The importance and power of this was reiterated to us many times. I've heard this before, but I thought paid internships sound better. If you have a little time and an idea of what you want to do as a career, it may not be a paid position, but it builds relationships and allows you to see what happens behind the scenes for a few weeks or more. This helps you opens doors by giving something to put on a resume in that realm. If you don't love it enough to do it for free, then you won't love it when you are getting paid either."
 
Paulak will be the team's lone senior in 2020-21 and help lead the squad as it looks to build off a strong 2019 fall campaign, that included pair of tournament titles and a tied for second place finish at the MVC Preview.