with one second left on the clock

On a dreary, rainy day in the spring of 2011, I stepped foot (a sopping wet foot, I might add) on the University of Nebraska - Lincoln's campus for the first time for a tour with my dad. There's a few things that stand out from that trip. First, the rain, which I've mentioned already. Second, my poor choice of footwear which led to dad taking me shopping shortly after that trip to get "a good pair of tennis shoes." Third, the all-you-could-eat dining hall that was part of the tour - dad and I made the most of that as you can imagine. And fourth, after the tour, dad and I went to go see Memorial Stadium (of course). The football team just happened to be practicing outside and dad and I were trying to get a glimpse. I didn't know a thing about the Huskers at the time and so I didn't know it then but that stadium and that athletic department would become a big part of my life.

Fast forward a few years. I'm a sophomore at UNL trying to decide on a career path, frantically racking my brain for what it was I wanted to do. The whole theater/music thing didn't work out so I scheduled a meeting with my advisor. After finding out I liked sports, she connected me with three women who worked in athletics at the time. We met at the Panera downtown one evening and after listening to them talk about their careers, my eyes lit up. That was the first time I ever imagined a career in athletics and I could imagine being them one day. I was hooked. That's where my career in sports began.

In January 2013, almost two years after that rainy day in Lincoln, I found myself back at the stadium, meeting with someone in the Media Relations Office thanks to one of those girls from Panera. I was hoping to become a student worker in the office but because it was the middle of the year, I could only volunteer. I worked hard to prove myself in hopes that they'd want to hire me as a student the following fall. I was fortunate because that's exactly what happened.

The rest is history. I went from a volunteer to a student worker to an intern to a full-time employee. And then somehow, nearly 10 years went by since that rainy spring day and Nebraska Athletics, specifically Communications, has been the story of my life - it's the game I've played for my entire professional career.

And now, there's just a few seconds left before that clock runs out.

Deciding to leave athletics was not easy. There's a lot of different feelings that I went through.

I worried what others in the industry might think. Would people think I was a quitter or a failure? Or that I wasn't cut out for the grind? Had I worked so hard for something I'm now just throwing away?

I also felt guilty. I was contemplating leaving an industry where all across the country people are getting furloughed or fired or positions and entire departments are being cut. Here I was choosing to leave.

Not to mention it was all I'd ever known professionally. I was terrified to leave my comfort zone. Luckily, someone reminded me that life begins at the end of your comfort zone.

I was also sad to leave all the amazing people that'd I gotten to know over the years.

However, I was thrilled about the new opportunity that I had been offered to work at the Buffett Early Childhood Institute and the team of employees over there. I was excited to use my experience in communications and my passion for outreach and service to make a positive impact on the people in the state of Nebraska. I was ready for new challenges. I was ready to make a difference and I was ready to help them do great things.

In the end, I knew this was the right decision. I knew that it's okay to pursue new opportunities for myself. I knew that change was nothing to be afraid of especially when you have a great support system. I knew that all that hard work I had put in was never wasted. It helped me build a solid reputation in the industry. It got me to where I am today and I would never take any of that back.

So as I look back on my time with Nebraska, it's hard to put into words what it has meant to me but one thing that's not hard is knowing that I'll be forever grateful.

I'm so thankful for my experience - getting to learn, grow, be challenged and overcome those challenges. I'm thankful for my supervisors who believed in me enough to hire me as an intern and later full-time. I'm grateful to the people at Nebraska who gave me the opportunity to be successful in this industry, for giving me growth opportunities, encouraging my development and for supporting me as a female in a male-dominated industry.

I'm thankful for getting the opportunity to earn my MBA.

I'm thankful to all of my co-workers at Nebraska and the people I worked alongside with (yes, that includes media members, too). You work so many hours that those people become some of your best friends and you really get to know them on a personal level.

I'm thankful for all of my mentors who always supported me as I navigated the industry and supported me through this transition.

I'm thankful for the Big Man upstairs. Always and especially in 2020 for reminding me that there are still so many good things in life.

I'm thankful for the coaches, sports staff and student-athletes I got to work with. I loved getting to know them outside of their sport. To so many, they are just athletes but I got the opportunity to get to know the amazing people that they are. They made me feel like part of their team, or rather part of their family. That's what it felt like - a family - because families spend holidays together. Families spend birthdays together. Families celebrate the highest highs with you. They celebrate your accomplishments when your hard work pays off. They help you remember the good in life. But families are also there to support and lift you up for some of the lowest of lows in your life. And that's exactly what we did. Triumphs and heartbreaks, I've experienced them all with these people.

I'm thankful for my actual family, who understood the demands of the job and instead of making me feel guilty for working so much, they supported me 100 percent. Thank you for believing in me and my dreams.

I'm thankful for the experiences I got - working conference championships and national championships. One of my favorite memories was graduating college and then being court side as the volleyball team won a national championship later that night. I got the opportunity to attend conferences and seminars that were invaluable to my development as a person and a professional. One of those seminars led to an opportunity to spend a summer in Southern California working for the Los Angeles Chargers. When my career in sports began, my dream was always to work in the NFL. I was able to accomplish that thanks to an experience I was giving because I worked at Nebraska.

I'm going to miss my SID friends all over the country. SID friends are like those people you see once or twice a year and it's like no time has passed. You pick up right where you left off and stay in touch with random emails in between or social media interactions here and there. We bonded over weird things that no one else could understand - over game notes layouts, fonts, media guide designs, interview requests, keeping stats and award nominations. We bonded over the grind. We bonded over the journey that we traveled together, season after season, year after year. I can't forget about the other professionals in this field either - marketing, digital, development, ticketing, operations, events, the list goes on and on. In this industry, you have so many people that are in it with you. They understood the good, the bad and the ugly. They get it and I'm thankful that I was never alone.

Ever since I came to Lincoln for the first time, the Huskers have been weaved into my story - a major part since the beginning of my time at Nebraska. For the first time in my professional career, that won't be the case.

I'll never truly get away from sports. They've always been a big part of my life but they'll just play a different role. It will be a weird feeling to get used to but I'll learn to appreciate some "normal things" like working regular hours, paying for parking and cheering at games.

Working in athletics was a dream come true for this sports fan from a small town in Wisconsin. And I got to live that dream. Now, I'm excited to pursue new dreams and make those reality, too.

And so, as the clock winds down, my last play will be...

Go Big Red.

Come on, you had to see that one coming.