By Kylynn Whitt

Students at Shenandoah University were given the opportunity to work at the Super Bowl, but that’s not all. The students spent days leading up to the big game doing and seeing many different events.

I took a look inside this trip while talking to Chloe Butler, one of the two females who attended this trip. 

Most students attend this trip with a Sports Management degree, but Butler was lucky enough to attend this through her Media and Communications major. Butler said that they worked the NFL experience the week leading up to the Super Bowl and also worked for the Chief’s pregame party the day of the game. When they weren’t working, they attended networking events where they met industry professionals such as the vice president of marketing for the Fiesta Bowl, the founder of a company called Position Sports, and many others.

The students also got to tour the Diamondbacks baseball stadium and the Arizona Nascar track. Butler stated that these experiences made for many memorable moments. Butler said that she enjoyed getting to hear the advice, experiences, and insight that the professionals provided. They all came from different backgrounds and were both male and female, said Butler. As far as tasks, the students did small tasks that were big in the long run. They did things like giving directions, handing out water, and scanning passes. Their biggest task was to represent the NFL well. 

Butler and one other female attended the game. Butler said, “Seeing other women being extremely successful in the sports industry felt very inspiring to me.” Gender isn’t a disadvantage no matter what career path one might go down, and this experience strengthened that thought for Butler.

The Super Bowl trip was successful, and it can be well seen that the students benefited tremendously from the experiences they were given.