If I have a passion for sports and helping people, would sports management or adapted Physical Education be a great career?

Hi Breanna,

You bring up a great point about balance in a person's career. It is really diligent that you're thinking about this question because there are many experienced adults who find out what they really love later than they would like to. And because you are asking these questions at this point in time, you still have several years to decide what YOU really want.

My recommendation would be to get involved in areas of work that you're interested in through volunteer programs and to keep an open mind. If you are going to continue on to undergraduate school, you will have the opportunity to meet many people who are interested in what you are and will be able to join clubs that are associated with your school.

Keep listening to what you want to do and keep an open mind. This way, the big opportunity will find you at the right moment.

There are a lot of different avenues to participate in sports as an industry, so you will have to try to match your passion for sports with other areas of interest. For example, if you want to be a sports agent or an arbitrator, you should probably pursue a law degree. If you want to be a sportswriter or broadcaster, journalism is a better path. And of course, if you're interested in sports nutrition, training or medicine, you would pursue something in the health related fields of study.

Personally, I would focus on what you enjoy first and then figure out how to make a good living from it, rather than just pursuing a job with strong economics that isn't something you love.

Hi Breanna,

I really like your approach to this question; it's an conundrum most of us face at one time or another. The good news is you have plenty of time to figure out which path is best for you.

There are careers options to both be happy with your career choice and be economically secure. For sport management specifically, it's important to gain experience and connections as early as possible. The sport management industry is large, but connections are key in furthering your career. You should also take the opportunity to diversify your background and experiences. While you may choose physical education over sport management, it never hurts to have experience in both as there are parables to each other.

You bring up two good points. Doing something you "love" and also being able to be financially secure. Only you can truly answer your own question and decide what is best for you. But here's some things to consider. A typical work week is 40-50 hours a week. Let's even go high and add in commuting to bring your total to 60 hours a week. Then add in 56 hours a week for sleep (7 days @ 8 hrs/day). Again this number is also high for the average person. That still leaves you 52 hours in a week to do activities that you like. (Go to the gym, participate in a recreational league, volunteer and donate your time to worthy causes). Also as far as helping others, their are some careers you could go into that could substantially improve people's lives and allow them to live a more independent life filled with athletic activities. For example, you could go to school and study mechanical engineering or biomedical engineering and work on creating artificial limbs for war veterans. This would be a rewarding career in knowing you are helping people as well as one that could give you financial security. There are other similar career choices out there that can allow you to be secure and help people.

Breanna

You can satisfy your passion by starting with volunteer work while you are still in high school; there are opportunities at your local foundations, 2k, 3k, 5k runs for a cause that will allow you to encounter the same people you seek to help.

Educational wise, choosing a major in college might help long the way your first year in the process of completing your general education courses, in the meantime athletic teams on the collegiate level are always doing community service. Being proactive and approaching the athletic director about your desire will be sure to land you in many rewarding forms of community service. This can continue all 4 years, and from that point you may choose to major in education, you may choose business administration, health or law enforcement.

Hope this helps