From participants to staff to programs, there are many aspects of campus recreation. Regardless of your level of involvement, there are several learning outcomes that can be taken from the experience. One of the common misconceptions from an outsider’s perspective is that campus recreation is just fun and games. There is more to campus recreation than fun and games: The main takeaways are the wild array of skills that can be utilized in personal and professional endeavors. The utilization of these skills can be advantageous as you move on from the college experience. Furthermore, campus recreation provides a quality opportunity outside of a classroom that not only adds transferable skills but also adds to your overall wellbeing. By getting involved in campus recreation, there are many benefits you can reap from the experience.
Let’s investigate on how to use transferable skills acquired from campus recreation:
Apply the Lessons Learned
The skills acquired from campus recreation are different for each person. Your level of involvement can provide a different perspective. As a participant, you can learn about teamwork, leadership and sportsmanship. As an employee, you can learn about time management, conflict resolution and communication. However, each experience is individual to you and what you make of it. One thing to consider is what can be learned from each experience. By taking on that perspective, you start to think about to how apply these learning experiences to other areas of your life.
Another way to look at it is to think about the defining moments from each experience. What aspects about the experience were most rewarding or challenging? I can think about my experiences in campus recreation as both a student and professional, and they have made a positive impact on my life. Taking a step back to allow yourself to think about how the experience impacted you can allow for improvement in other areas. The important aspect of transferable skills is to take an experience and apply it across other areas. This requires thinking about the big picture and matching these transferable skills to your long-term goals.
Maximize Opportunities
Once skills have been acquired, the next step is to implement them. One common oversight is not reflecting on the skills learned from previous experiences. In campus recreation, there are skills learned in various aspects of the provided programming. The most common form of learning skills is by doing. Examples range from officiating a sport to leading an outdoor recreation trip to serving as a lifeguard.
Therefore, the next step is to take the skills learned from these frontline positions and maximize them into new positions. The way to do that is focusing in on what skills have been enhanced and most used when in these roles. By doing that you are able to be motivated by new opportunities and transition it into new opportunities. Taking on new opportunities is a great motivator for your continued career success.
Gain a Mentor
Once you have recognized new opportunities, it is important to reflect on the individuals that have been able to assist in your progress and development. One of the redeeming qualities of campus recreation is the autonomy within roles and the flexible work atmosphere. Added to this flexible environment is the mentorship from the professional presence. The professional presence can assist with forming a career path in or out of the field of campus recreation.
Therefore, when gaining work experiences it is necessary to account for the professionals that have helped along the way. These professionals can call on your experience and the strengths you exhibited within the role. Once you start to accumulate professional supervisors, it is recommended to keep an open line of communication so they know your latest desires and aspirations. Furthermore, these types of relationships can speak best to your transferable skills that turn into strengths which will be beneficial to an employer.
In conclusion, it is important to keep in mind what skills are most applicable to your personal and professional development. Identify these skills and ways for continued improvement. Each person’s career path is unique and it is important to pinpoint the skills that will assist you most in your career success.
