Excitement, Anticipation and Curiosity

At the end of our Sport Marketing class, Professor Andrew Choi was delivering his final speech before distributing the course evaluation forms. While bidding his final farewell to the students, Dr. Choi openly asked our class how many students would be interested in potentially taking an international sport immersion class abroad. Around half of the class’s hands were in the air - some instantaneously and others gradually, but all in all, the unified group of raised arms signalled the first breath of life into a special endeavour.

Since that moment, Dr. Choi has poured in an incredible amount of effort into making our upcoming Global Sport Management Immersion Week a reality. There will be 11 of us taking off for Seoul, South Korea tomorrow (eight students from the San Francisco campus and three from Southern California) on what should be an educational and empirical adventure of a lifetime. Dr. Choi has worked relentlessly in creating the most beneficial itinerary for our class, one that blends our understanding of a foreign sporting industry with a new and exciting culture.

The aims of the course are laid out in the syllabus, which offer some insight into the objectives of the class. ..

Korea is one of only a handful of countries in the world which has hosted both the FIFA World Cup (2002) and the Summer Olympics (1988) – two of the largest sporting events in the world. Considering the small size and population base of the nation, the Korean sport industry has seen remarkable growth and success in modern history, generating top-10 performances in recent Olympics, massive followings in professional leagues, and elite status in grassroots programs in such sports as golf, baseball, and taekwondo.

This course aims to provide a sport-cultural immersion program in Korea to learn about the global perspectives in sport management. Topics include, but not be restricted to, international sporting events, state-of-the art sport venues, sport business practices, sport policies, sport media and broadcasting rights, sport management education, and student athletes in Korea. In addition, the course will provide ample opportunities to learn about the social, cultural, and historical aspects of Korea.

As a student, I couldn’t be more excited for a course and I know my peers share the exact same sentiment – otherwise they wouldn’t be doing it! The tasty foods, the historic sights and the interaction with local Koreans are all such exciting prospects. Not to mention a totally different and important perspective of the global sports scene. I’m confident we will all grow individually and collectively from this once-in-a-lifetime expedition.

Our flight leaves in less than 12 hours which means the anticipation continues to mount appropriately. Based on a promise made to all my friends in Cohort 27 who sadly can’t join us for this class, I’ve pledged to keep everyone up to date and informed by updating this blog on a consistent basis. I hope everyone has as much fun reading it as I will have writing it!

Lastly, although I look forward to thanking him in person tomorrow at Inchon airport, I want to express my gratitude to Dr. Choi for giving us the chance to participate in such an incredible opportunity. All of the students are so appreciative of his efforts. He’s worked furiously to make this happen and we all are extremely grateful and look forward to enjoying and learning about his country’s special culture.