Wolverines on Zirin Family Career Venture Expand Horizons on 'Amazing' Five-Day Tour
8/3/2018 12:30:00 PM | Baseball, Football, General, Men's Swimming & Diving, Men's Tennis, Softball, Rowing, Women's Soccer, Women's Tennis, Women's Track & Field, Wrestling, Features
By Steve Kornacki
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- A uniquely proactive opportunity to connect with the business world has taken on new wings.
What began as a two-woman internship road trip covering seven states and visiting 18 companies last July evolved this summer into the Zirin Family Career Venture, which saw eight University of Michigan student-athletes visiting Chicago, Toledo, Ohio, and Detroit before returning to Ann Arbor to learn more about top corporations in those cities.
They traveled by bus with Maurice Washington, director of the Michigan Athletics Career Center (MACC), staying overnight in hotels and visiting the Chicago Cubs, Coyote Logistics, Owens Corning, Quicken Loans and Google on their tour, which took place June 25-29.
"I think those opportunities will result in job interviews or internship possibilities for each student-athlete next summer," said Washington. "And Maurgan Lee, who is in neuroscience, even found other interests off her career path. It was an amazing experience.
"Our students were able to understand and learn about each other, the dynamics of each team that was represented, learn about company competence, corporate culture, and see what is behind the veil of great companies like Google. They were able to be on the calls at Coyote Logistics as deals were being made, sitting with brokers and having conversations."
This idea grew from the experience softball outfielder Courtney Richardson (now interning at Major League Baseball in New York City) and track and field thrower Maegan McCarthy (who has an internship lined up for 2019) initiated last summer on their seven-state tour.
"After we put that out on social media and a couple donors saw it," said Washington, "in particular Jon and Lisa Zirin (of Highland Park, Illinois), decided to do something. So, they donated the money for a five-year program to give students the opportunity to gain corporate knowledge, understand corporate culture and broaden their perspectives of the inner-workings of different companies."
Jon Zirin, a 1990 Michigan graduate, is an executive vice president and one of the owners of Elite Staffing. He and his wife have a heart for preparing student-athletes for their career paths.
Jon, Lily, Josh and Lisa Zirin at their home in Highland Park, Illinois. Their generosity and commitment helped create the Zirin Family Career Venture for Michigan student-athletes.
Zirin said when the Venture was announced: "My four years at U-M were filled with amazing professors, fabulous courses and the greatest friends in the world. Balancing the demands of college student life can be challenging. Imagine if you had the additional responsibilities of a student-athlete? How do they find the time off the practice field for not only course work, but planning for life once their time as an athlete at Michigan comes to an end?
"Being in the staffing-career-employment industry has reinforced how important it is for young people to take that first step towards a career with a better idea of what awaits them. …We hope our gift will help provide some of the tools to help in their journey."
The Zirins also invited the group to their home for dinner during the Chicago stop.
"It gave them an opportunity to meet the students one-on-one," said Washington, "and gave us the opportunity to really get to know Jon and Lisa. I made them ambassadors of the MAAC program."
Kayla Douglas, a former swimmer who now works in leadership development at Michigan, served as another trip chaperone and also did values assessments of the participants. Washington had them write papers on pre-trip expectations, research every company to share and reflect about them with one another and write post-trip reflections.
"It turned out that what they saw at these places exceeded their expectations," said Washington.
Washington's criteria for selecting the eight to make the trip on what he termed "Zirin Team One" involved taking those most engaged in MAAC programs and career development, while also rewarding those "expressing an interest in learning more about career after sports."
Seven student-athletes joined the group for the tour of Google in Ann Arbor: Kate Fahey (tennis), Mokhtar Al-Yamani (swimming), Emma Groffsky (soccer), Tyler Meisinger (wrestling), Alexis Covacha (cheer), Teddy Oosterbaan (tennis) and Will Roberts (swimming).
"What really struck me," said Washington, "was that when we started this journey, not all of them knew each other. They don't interact much outside of their teams, but by the second or third day of this trip they all became best friends. They asked each other about their experiences on teams, career aspirations, and we formed a team for life."
Washington said a highlight for him was the day spent with the Chicago Cubs, which included a tour of historic Wrigley Field and its ivy-covered outfield walls.
"We were actually able to stand at home plate of Wrigley Field," said Washington. "It was truly amazing. I asked Jimmy, 'Do you feel at home?' He said, 'Yes. I can see myself being here.' When we got to the Cubs, Jimmy just lit up. We met their director of ticket sales and two young ladies who worked in community engagement with the players.
"But, professionally, my favorite moment was watching our student-athletes connect, step outside the box and stretch. I saw them learn from each other beyond what they learned from the companies."
Washington paused, chuckled and added, "I'm still on a high from how this thing went. We're trying to create transformational opportunities for our students to provide an idea for what life after sports is like, and this was a great component of that."
Below are snapshots of each team member along with their comments on career interests:
Reon Dawson
Class: Graduate | Sport: Football
Major area of interest: Sociology with a minor in Afro-African American Studies
What sentence best describes your career interests at this time?
I am very interested in making a difference in the sports and management industry for current and former athletes using my background in sociology.
Aaron Howell
Class: Graduate | Sport: Track & Field (Bio)
Major area of interest: International Studies and Sociology
What sentence best describes your career interests at this time?
I am very interested in law and the various ways that a law background is utilized in the corporate world.
Courtney Jacobsen
Class: Senior | Sport: Track & Field (Bio)
Major area of interest: Psychology with a minor in Community Action and Social Change
What sentence best describes your career interests at this time?
I want to help create change on a major scale.
Jimmy Kerr
Class: Senior | Sport: Baseball (Bio)
Major area of interest: Industrial and Operations Engineering
What sentence best describes your career interests at this time?
I aspire to use my IOE Degree and Business Minor to make have an impact on the efficiency, productivity and success of a business, whether that be in a front office, on Wall Street or in a manufacturing facility.
Claire Kieffer-Wright
Class: Senior | Sport: Track & Field (Bio), Volleyball (Bio)
Major area of interest: Communications
What sentence best describes your career interests at this time?
I am interested in working on the social media and marketing side of companies and/or sports teams.
Maurgan Lee
Class: Junior | Sport: Rowing (Bio)
Major area of interest: Neuroscience and Crime and Justice
What sentence best describes your career interests at this time?
I will be a pediatric neurosurgeon that will work simultaneously in my own private practice and a hospital with my own nonprofit.
Nick Lombard
Class: Sophomore | Sport: Wrestling (Bio)
Major area of interest: Undecided
What sentence best describes your career interests at this time?
At this time I am interested in the field of business and sports management but not sure specifically what I want to do in these fields.
Myles Schalet
Class: Senior | Sport: Tennis (Bio)
Major area of interest: Sport Management
What sentence best describes your career interests at this time?
I am interested in pursuing the behind the scenes business side of sport in numerous sectors such as sales, marketing, business development, finance and operations.
Players Mentioned
