As 2016 comes to a close later on this week, like many of you I am enjoying the few days away from campus to reflect and recharge from an outstanding fall semester of events to what I suspect will be an exciting conference season of Men’s and Women’s Basketball!
The one big thing that has been on my mind throughout this break away from campus has been ‘Don’t be afraid to take a risk.’ Now, I know you are probably thinking, ‘Craig what type of risk are you mentioning?’ Well it could be a promotion that occurs pre or in-game, social media campaign, theme night, special event, (insert any one of your own projects you have worked on) or it could be making the next jump in your career. No matter what the risk is, sometimes you have to step out of your comfort zone to truly reap the benefits. I am going to give you two short stories that will explain this thought and why it’s so important to take a risk and then to reflect and recharge.
If you didn’t know Cal and Stanford have a Big Rivalry know as The Big Game (Go figure right!?!). For this special week the Bay Area becomes the epicenter of Bears and Cardinal events throughout the region. One of my many hats I wear consists of managing Cal Spirit’s schedule of events. Since I was the “New Kid On The Block” I had no idea how deep this rivalry runs and all of the events that make this week so special for the Bay Area. The risk that was involved was making sure I was utilizing Cal Spirit groups time to be impactful at events vs. just standing around and missing classes and “Hi we are here and Go Bears!” While reaching out to the contacts of events and quadruple-checking event details it became clear that taking this risk of making sure the schedule would flow for both the clients and our students was much appreciated.
This next story is for those of you considering what’s next -- whether it’s looking for your Graduate Assistantship, Internship, or Full-Time Employment. I grew up in Kentucky my whole life and attended undergraduate and graduate school in the Commonwealth. This past July, I joined the athletic staff at Cal and for me that meant leaving the South/Midwest (however you view Kentucky) to embark on a new adventure on the West Coast. If you are presented with the chance to leave your comfort zone…Do it! The reward of trying something new is amazing!
To each and everyone of you: don’t be afraid to pursue something outside of your norms, you will be shocked at how much you can grow. If you haven’t make sure you check out the other blogs in the community! Happy New Year!
#L1C4 #GoTops #GoBears
Craig
Cal Athletics
@CAPeden_
cpeden@berkeley.edu