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Gallery for 2012 Student-Athlete Career Fair
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In 2003, Sarah Sassee-Kildow was a first-team All-American
golfer at Nebraska. She was also the Big 12 Golfer of the Year, a 3-time NCCA
Championship participant, a National Golf Coaches Association Scholastic
All-American, a 5-time Nebraska Women’s Amateur Golf Association State Stroke
Play Champion, a World University Golf Championship runner-up, a 4-time
first-team Academic All-Big 12 golfer and a 3-time first-team All-Big 12 player.
Yes, Sasse-Kildow, achieved well beyond what most golf followers would expect
from a student-athlete competing in Mid-America.
“I was so consumed with competition, I never really
thought about golf not being something I would do for the rest of my life,”
Sasse-Kildow said. “That’s why I was so excited to have a booth at the Nebraska
Student-Athlete Career Fair – to remind every student-athlete I met to think
about the big picture – to look beyond their sport, identify their skill set and
pursue their career. I was so busy competing, I didn’t do that. I don’t want
anyone to make the same mistake I did.”
After getting her bachelor’s degree, Sasse-Kildow
played three years on the Futures Tour of the Women’s National, also known as
“The Road to the LPGA” (Ladies Professional Golf Association). She then
spent three years in pharmaceutical sales before becoming a real-estate agent in
Lincoln. “I love it,” she said. “The Lincoln market is really hot right now, so
we were recruiting at the Career Fair. Selling fits the athletic mindset.
Athletes are used to setting aggressive goals and going above and beyond to
achieve the goals they set.”
Take it straight from someone who’s been near the top
of her sport. The annual Student-Athlete Career Fair, sponsored by NU’s
nationally prominent Life Skills Department, is a big deal because it forces
student-athletes to focus on the big picture. On a recent Monday night, the 2012
Career Fair made the West Stadium’s third-floor an important stop for 450 Husker
student-athletes planning their life journey’s in the midst of their college
athletic careers.
Burkhead, Fisher, Long Among
Attendees
NU’s Student-Athlete Career Fair is an outside event
that draws a lot of football players, even when it comes during the heart of
their season – from future doctors Sean Fisher and Spencer Long to future teacher/coach Rex Burkhead, who’s trying to bounce back from injury
to help lead the Huskers to a Big Ten Championship and a postseason bowl game.
Check around a crowded room at a Career Fair, and you can find Amber
Burgess Wade, who played softball at Nebraska a decade ago and returned
as a representative of Lincoln Fire and Rescue. Kellen McClure, a Nebraska high jumper recently hired
by Eli Lilly; was at the Career Fair. So was former Husker all-around gymnast
Gina Bruce Saccoman, who now works for Renaissance
Financial.
Current Husker Jordan Reinertson and former Husker Madison Drake are classic examples of why a
Nebraska’s Career Fair draws so well during a busy part of the athletic
year.
Reinertson, a sophomore on the Nebraska men’s golf
team, said the Career Fair was a valuable experience because it gave him the
opportunity to talk with a couple business firms that caught his
interest.
“Since I’m getting one of my degrees in Finance, I had
an interest in both the banking side of things, and also a possible career
planning firm,” Reinertson said. “With both companies, I was able to talk with
very friendly and interesting people that answered a lot of my questions about
internships and possible jobs that are available for people who are new to their
company. I was glad to hear that both firms had short-range opportunities over
the summer up to a 6-month or a 1-year type of position.
“Our Student-Athlete Career Fair is nice for me because
I’m not sure yet what I want to do when I graduate with both my Finance and
Business Education degrees,” Reinertson said. “I haven’t figured out my calling,
but it’s always good to have a couple different options to look into. Thank
goodness the Life Skills Department puts this event on for us every year because
it really helps a person get a jump on planning for life after college and life
after sports. The Career Fair is definitely one of the reasons why Nebraska is
such a great place to go to school and be an athlete!”
Seeing Student-Athlete Career Fair from Another
Side
A former standout Husker softball player, Drake
became a Business Development manager for National Research Corporation (NRC) in
August. NRC is a patient-centered healthcare provider. “My first encounter with
my current employer was actually at the Career Fair a year ago,” Drake said, “so
it was an interesting experience being on the other side of the
table.
“Our Student-Athlete Career Fair is great for both
companies and student -athletes because it promotes being proactive in every
student-athlete’s future, more specifically in our life after sports,” Drake
said. “The transition is challenging and comes very quickly, and it’s very
exciting to see companies taking interest in our student-athletes’
futures.”
The opportunity extends beyond local companies and
regional employers. “A lot of the companies represented at the Career Fair are
national corporations, and they’re located all across the United States,” Drake
pointed out. “The opportunity works both ways. The Student-Athlete Career Fair
is a major benefit to the companies attending because it gives them the chance
to reach talented individuals before other employers!”
Drake said she’s “extremely grateful” for her
experience at Nebraska because she became a “well-rounded person” who was
allowed to focus on education and a career path at the same time she competed.
“Nebraska is dedicated to making every student-athlete well-rounded,” she said.
“That’s why it’s so great that all these companies come to our Student-Athlete
Career Fair. It gives them exposure to hundreds of seriously competitive
students who have been disciplined and dedicated their entire lives.”
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