#My100Days interning for a professional soccer team
A CGS student planning on majoring in computer science, Daniel Cohen spent his gap semester getting experience in analytics by interning for the Hartford Athletics soccer team and getting a head start on his credits by taking a Calculus class. We spoke with Daniel about how his #My100Days internship prepared him to start his college career.
Why did you choose CGS?
I know a few people in CGS and they’ve told me how incredible of a program it is. I really like the flexibility that it gives me by being a part of it
How are you spending your gap semester?
I took a calculus class and did an internship for a soccer club, Hartford Athletics. I was a part of the scouting and performance analysis team. It was a really cool opportunity and experience. It was weird doing it during COVID because there was a lot of uncertainty and I didn’t even know if I was going to be able to continue to do it. Thankfully because it was outside and I was able to keep my distance, it worked out and it was really awesome.
How did you decide on what to do during your gap semester?
I knew I needed to do something during my gap semester. I wanted to take advantage of this time, whether it was to get a head start with classes, so I took Calculus. Because it was such a long time, I was actually talking to sophomores in CGS and they said to definitely think about either traveling abroad or getting a job or an internship. I saw this opportunity come up and I jumped on it.
How has the time been valuable to you?
While it does kind of stink that I wasn’t able to travel abroad or do as much as I expected I would be able to, I really enjoyed having this gap semester by having so many opportunities to go out, get a job, focus on myself more, do the internship, take a class and get a head start. I think this semester has been a really good opportunity.
What were the most memorable moments of your gap semester?
It’s mostly centered around the internship. The team that I was working with, this was only their second year being a professional club, so they’re pretty small compared to a lot of the other teams. I was much more hands on helping with the coaching staff and being on the field during games and practices. They actually made the playoffs this year in their league, so it was pretty special being there and being a part of that team. It felt kind of like a family. We were very close and it was pretty awesome to see them make it through after all that hard work and know that my contributions helped, even just a little bit.
What advice would you give to future CGS students when planning their gap semesters?
If I were to give advice to future CGS students, I’d say definitely plan ahead. This year has been so different from any other, so even the best of planning still couldn’t go without any issues coming up. Putting some time beforehand to think about and put together what you want to do in your gap semester can be very valuable in the short term, such as giving you something that you can enjoy and keep you busy during a pandemic, and also in the long term, such as opening doors for future opportunities or even helping you find your passion in life.
What were some of the skills you took out of the gap semester? What did you learn?
I was by far the youngest person out of all the interns. There was a player who was younger than me, but besides that everyone was much older than me. I had very little experience compared to everyone else, but I was able to learn a lot about both about what it’s like to be a part of a front office in sports. The difference between being part of a professional team versus a club sport team or varsity is a very different kind of atmosphere. One of the things I focused on was scouting, so I learned how that worked. Also, because we did a lot of analytics, I learned how to use Excel. There were a couple other programs, SportsCo and Huddle, so I was able to use a lot of programs that focused heavily on analytics and I got a lot of experience.
What are you most looking forward to about the next four years?
I’m really excited just to be on campus. I’ve been missing being able to be around people and being in classes. Being in Boston and being at BU, there’s so many opportunities that I can’t wait to be able to take advantage of. I can’t wait to be a part of the community there. I’m just very excited to transition out of being a high schooler to being more independent and growing as a person, working towards my future and building that up.
— Compiled by Julia Allard