Alumni Spotlight: Sangmi Park
Alumni Spotlight: Sangmi Park
By: MacAlister Steckler
This week’s spotlight is on Sangmi Park. Sangmi went to George Washington University to receive her master’s in Tourism with a concentration in Sports Management and is currently working on obtaining her Master’s in Business Administration. Before Sangmi came to GW, she was focused on receiving her Bachelor of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences but decided to shift gears towards sports after concluding that Pharmaceutical Sciences may not be for her.
In her first semester in the master’s program, Sangmi decided to focus more on her classes and integrate into the Sports Management program. During the first semester, Sangmi was able to work on the gameday staff with the Washington Capitals providing her with many connections needed to be successful in the sports industry. In the first semester, the work she did prepared her to become an intern for the Baltimore Orioles in the PR department and marketing department, which gave her many of the skills needed to succeed in her future career endeavors. She furthered the internship she did with the Orioles into a public relations spring training intern, again, with the Orioles allowing her to work with different prospects and the club. With her focus on building relationships with those in the sports industry, she created many opportunities. After receiving her master’s in sports management, she started in the GW athletic department focused on the Marketing department and growing her role into the Sports Marketing Coordinator for all GW athletics. During her time here, she was a part of many different major events, such as the season kick-offs and bringing back one of the best GW Sports Hall of Fame Classes. She is now working as an Administrative Associate within the Athletics Development in the Relations department. A lot of her role focuses on fundraising and planning many different events.
A unique part of Sangmi’s process into sports was her start and the process she went through to get to the position she is at right now. Not everyone’s path into sports starts from a place of being in a sports management program. Sangmi started in Pharmaceutical Science in a six-year program, and about halfway through, she felt a desire to look for different career paths. She looked at other master’s programs and landed on Sports Management through a search online surrounding her interests and talking to various professionals. She started by applying for different internships and jobs, but due to her past experiences, she felt it would help her gain more experience in sports and learn skills to propel her career.
Getting into the sports industry is tough, and Sangmi touched on one of the essential skills necessary for students to get their foot in the door. She felt that networking was one of the most critical skills and things one could do to build connections and opportunities. She felt that putting herself out there and going to any event she could attend helped her learn more about the industry and create the necessary skills. She also stated how important it was to have an actual “why sports?” Sangmi touched on how having a genuine, authentic response to that question can help propel a candidate into the front of the list for jobs and internships.
Sangmi Park’s unique entry into the sports industry and unique experiences highlight the sports world’s nature. She was able to work in many different fields before landing in Sports Management and interning in many other areas. Sangmi’s story is inspiring in many ways and showcases the uniqueness of the sports industry.