By Kelly Obbie
I could say that walking into Bankers Life Fieldhouse was a dream come true, but I would by lying. It was a dream come true walking out of it. Let me explain.
My basketball upbringing isn’t like the typical Hoosier. Coming from Southern Ohio, there wasn’t much great basketball to watch. Luckily, I decided to come to IU and quickly became a basketball fan. I knew that sports communication was not a “dream job” per say, but more of a target I wouldn’t mind hitting. After visiting Bankers Life, sports communication went from an interest to a dream job.
About ten minutes into the visit, I couldn’t believe I was standing o
n the Pacer’s court. They didn’t roll out the carts for a three-point shootout, but I still snapped a few pictures and sent them to my friends. PRSSA has some perks aside from career connections.
After leaving the court, we went into the press conference room. I expected a PowerPoint about building technical skills for my resume and deleting Kilroy’s pictures off of social media (I even had some sugar beforehand to stay awake). I was dead wrong. When Eddie White, the Pacer’s Director of Corporate Communications, stepped onto the stage, he immediately talked to us and not at us, telling us exactly what to do to get to our dream job.
I sat on the edge of my seat listening to his hilarious complaints about kids and their cellphones and about his many different jobs in the industry. All of his stories sounded like a great adventure that I would love to have. I wanted to be that person one day who could tell all of those stories. He suddenly pointed at me and asked me what my dream job was.
He pointed to the guy next to me. He wants that job too.
He pointed to the girl behind me. So does she.
We’re all exactly alike, but what will get me that job is separating myself.
He pointed to the exit door behind him. That exit door is my dream job, and when I start in an entry-level position and work my way up, I shouldn’t lose sight of that exit door. Suddenly I could be 90 and die without reaching it. I was taken aback by the bluntness of this statement, but I loved it. It made me listen to him, and more importantly it made me think about my future. He’s right. I could get comfortable and lose sight of that dream job, but thanks to his talk I will not do that. I will find ways to separate myself and stand on the Pacers court again one day.
Getting into Bankers Life won’t be as easy as walking onto the court like we did that day, but I know what I have to do to get there thanks to PRSSA trips like this one. I will have to work my way up and not forget about that exit door just ahead.