ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Washington University in St. Louis Athletics Enrichment Services for Student-Athlete Development partnered with the Center for Career Engagement (CCE) to lead the How to Market Yourself as a Student-Athlete event on September 3.
 
This event, geared towards first-years and sophomores, is designed to help scholar-champions learn how to articulate their competitive and leadership experience gained in their sport in a cohesive, career-focused way to assist in their networking ability. Bears will be able to use what they learn at the annual Bear Networking Breakfast on September 18.
 
"This workshop is a direct response to the need to teach our younger student-athletes how to articulate the skills they have gained through sport and to prepare them for our marquee, collaborative event with the CCE, the Bear Networking Breakfast," said Senior Associate Athletic Director for Internal Operations/Senior Woman Administrator Summer Hutcheson. "We have seen more meaningful interaction between employers and student-athletes because of this preparation. We are grateful for the CCE's collaboration on both this workshop and the networking breakfast!"
 
"We are so grateful to our partners in the Center for Career Engagement for our How to Market Yourself as a Student-Athlete event," added Student-Athlete Development and Experience Coordinator Ali Casco. "This event is pivotal in preparing our student-athletes to relate their extensive athletic and leadership abilities to career readiness. Hearing the buzz in the room as students practiced and mastered their elevator pitches is exciting and a great pre-cursor for a fantastic networking breakfast on September 18th." 
 
Those in attendance were led through an activity to create an elevator pitch and then practice it among their peers as well as with Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Director of Athletics Anthony J. Azama.
 
"Another great program and partnership spearheaded by Enrichment Services for Student-Athlete Development, in collaboration with the Center for Career Engagement and powered by the W Club Annual Fund," said Azama. "This intentional learning lab ultimately benefits our students in their preparation for post-graduation opportunities. They will be ready to meet the moment at the Career Expo!"
 
A total of 16 teams were represented at the event and 75 percent left feeling confident in networking, compared to 48 percent pre-event. Additionally, 82 percent of attendees reported learning a new skill to add to their networking toolkit and 72 percent of attendees made a connection with a new student-athlete.
 
"Each individual student's name and story really matter here at WashU and Scholar-Champions have a unique story to tell!" said Danny Pape, Executive Director of the CCE. "Events like this give students the confidence to tell their unique story highlighting the skills and experiences that will make them leaders in their professional and personal lives."
 
"We have a special long-term partnership with WashU Athletics to help all WashU Scholar Champions develop life-long career skills leading towards success before and after graduation," added Assistant Director/Career Coach in the CCE Michael Chapin. "This program is just one of those unique opportunities to help first and second-year students build confidence and engagement."
 
Feedback from Scholar-Champions:
 
"This program gave me a lot more confidence in networking, especially for the upcoming Bear networking breakfast. Last year I did not know what to expect or do at the breakfast, and this year I feel a lot more prepared from this workshop" - Sophomore, Cross Country/Track & Field
 
"It showed me that we are all in need of growth and this made the idea of networking less scary and more exciting! I like the idea that we are all in this together!" – First-year, Softball
 
"This was incredibly impactful, as I learned that comfort and risks don't go hand in hand. It's important to get outside of my comfort zone to achieve big things."  - First-year, Track & Field
 
"It was impactful and helpful for getting me to start thinking about marketing myself" First-year, Men's Soccer
 
"This gave me a lot of insights into networking as somebody who never really had previous mentoring on this." – Sophomore, Women's Swimming & Diving