Bison News

My First Couple of Weeks with the Wizards

Jamela Joseph is a senior public relations major at Howard University. She works in the sports information office at HU and will blog, about every two weeks, about her summer internship with the Washington Wizards.

What could possibly keep me from going back home to California for the summer? Well, it was only the words "Jamela, I'd like to offer you the internship position within the Community Relations Department of the Washington Wizards..." Exciting? Yes, of course!

I have plans to work in community relations after college and now I have the opportunity to experience what its like to work in community relations for a professional sports team. Summer is a great time to have an internship, but unfortunately the Wizards are not in season, so the office is a little slower than usual. During the first two weeks of my internship, I was able to meet a lot of the employees including the Senior Vice President of Community Relations as well as the Senior Director of Community Relations. On my first day of work, I immediately began responding to donation requests. Being that the Wizards are strongly involved in the community, there were piles of letters requesting the Wizards contributions, while some were letters expressing their gratitude. I have a strong desire to serve the community, so I truly enjoyed learning of many different service based organizations. Some of my other duties have included creating databases for different programs and organizing information for programs such as Gilbert Scores for Schools. The daily tasks are not difficult, so it will be my mission to determine how to stand out from previous interns. I am looking forward to helping out with community events and learning more about what heading a community relations department entails. 

Even though it doesn't seem as though I will consistently be busy, I believe my internship will help me in many capacities. Through my internship, I have already discovered a new organization that my organization, The National Council of Negro Women, Howard University Section will be working with during the school year. It's always great to kill two birds in one stone! Stay tuned to find out how I stay abreast the rest, while completing simple task that may not always allow one to show unique skills or creativity. Feel free to email me if you have questions at jamelaejoseph@yahoo.com and don't forget to visit wizardscare.com to find out what the Wizards are doing in the community.