Gomez and Aponte attend NCAA Career in Sports Forum

Courtesy of ncaa.org

NORTH ADAMS, Mass.—Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) senior student-athletes Domenica Gomez (Women's Cross-Country) and JC Aponte (Men's Soccer) attended the 2023 NCAA Career in Sports Forum earlier this month at the NCAA national office in Indianapolis. The event highlighted potential career paths in sports and emphasized the attendees' professional and personal development.

Instead of collecting golden stars or coins like some popular video game characters, the Career in Sports Forum gave 200 student-athletes an immersive opportunity to "level up" through a multitude of networking, inspirational speakers, informative career advice and more from current professionals in the pro sports and collegiate athletics world.

Built around common video game tropes, the theme for the 2023 Career in Sports Forum was "The Pursuit of Purpose." Programming during each of the four days was a different level, broken into concepts such as "Choose Your Character," "Choose Your Playing Field," "Embrace the Challenge" and "Trust Your Process."

Attendees participated in industry-specific breakouts and personal development sessions and heard from keynote speakers, including sessions from Yolett McPhee-McCuin, the Ole Miss women's basketball coach, and Lacee Carmon-Johnson, manager of basketball advancement for the Toronto Raptors.

Attendees channeled their experience as student-athletes to discover their transferable skills regarding career development, self-development, communication, critical thinking, equity and inclusion, leadership, professionalism, teamwork, and technology.

In the final session of the event, keynote motivational speaker Jonathan Sprinkles delivered an impactful speech on "The Power of Connection."

Sprinkles advocated for the attendees to "resist the urge to think small." A ballroom full of 200 student-athletes frantically scribbled down his advice, showing no fatigue from a jampacked four days. It was another moment of inspiration in an event filled with them.

Sprinkles ended the forum with a final statement, "You are born an original. Don't live like a copy."

The attendees again put pen to paper to capture the words of wisdom.  Now it's time for them to put them to use.