Saints Sport internship: Megan Ashley
Megan Ashley shares her experiences of her internship at the University of St Andrews Saints Sport.
My story: Megan Ashley
- Course: Master of Arts (Honours) Art History and French
- Year of study when you completed this internship: 3rd year
- Internship: University of St Andrews – Saints Sport Event Assistant-Boyd Quaich 2022
Why did you apply for the internship? What were you hoping to gain?
I signed up for the internship to start looking into possible careers and options for after my graduation. I play a lot of competitive golf, at a high level, and so I thought I would see what it was like to organise an event like those I play in. I was hoping to gain some experience in the event management world, find out what it is like to work as a team, and see if my skills were suited to this kind of job.
Tell us about your internship, where was it and what did you do (what kind of roles/tasks etc)?
Over summer I took part in an internship to organise and run a historic golf event in St Andrews with a fellow student and two members of staff from the Saints Sport.
My time during the internship was an incredibly enlightening and enjoyable experience. Before taking part, I had no real work experience at all and so I tried to go into this experience with an open mind.
In the weeks leading up to the tournament, we had to manage many different aspects of the event from complimentary gifts for competitors, contacting Universities for entries, and organising volunteers for the week. Majority of the work was undertaken online, which consisted of writing emails and using the GolfBox software to manage the event.
Periodically, we would meet in the Sports Centre to catch up on the latest information and discuss the next steps. This provided a lot of flexibility in terms of working hours as we were able to work when we wanted. Finally, the week of the tournament I enjoyed thoroughly. It was four days total where we welcomed players, started them on their rounds, took scores and went out on the course during play to make sure everything was running smoothly. I felt very at home the entire time and knew I could ask questions at any time if I needed help from the two members of staff helping us.
What skills did you learn and how did you put them into practice during the internship?
Throughout the internship, I built on my skills such as networking, communication and organisation to ask the right questions and obtain the correct information from different people. For example, I really enjoyed being in contact with the players of the event to answer any questions. Consequently, helping people throughout the internship was one of the most rewarding parts for me. Apart from this, when organising the players, it was important to be aware of their situations as they were coming from all over the world. As a team, we had to consider things they might be concerned about and figure out how we could help them best when needed; we then had to make sure we were making things as clear as possible for them to understand our information.
What is next in your career journey and any messages to future interns?
I would highly recommend anyone considering a summer internship with the University to go for it, especially if you get to spend more time in St Andrews, or just Scotland, as it is a very special place and makes the whole experience more enjoyable. It has opened my eyes to opportunities and ideas in terms of where my career could go in the golf industry, or elsewhere, as all the skills I have obtained and improved will be useful in any work environment. Now, I am just excited to see what’s next!