iQuest Book

For my book that I have to read for iQuest I chose Sports Inc.: 100 Years of Sports, by Phil Schaaf. I will read two chapters a week in order to complete my goal of reading it in five weeks. The main idea of the book is the history of the sports industry, and how it has progressed over the years. So far the book has talked about how the radio and TV were the big turning points for the sports industry. It has also talked about the intensity level in sports and how that has grown in the past hundred years to astonishing heights. The sports industry has grown from small means of pass time, into one of the largest entertainment industries in the world. There was somewhat of a big bang in terms of the industry becoming popular. This was the time when sports teams were putting big money into the sports like any kind of businesses and it worked out. So far this book is very intriguing and I can’t wait to read more about my favorite thing in the world. I like how the book uses plenty of facts to back it up to show real proof of the industry’s growth. I think the author’s goal of the book was to show people how such a successful industry came to be. I want to learn more about this exciting topic.

iQuest Update

I am still interning at Bay Area Sports Management. I work for them on Wednesdays and Saturdays every week. The amount of time I spend working differs from week to week, but on average I work about 4-5 hours a week. Basically, my project consists of learning the ins and outs of the sports industry. I am learning from my mentor what it is to be a sports manager. Adonal Foyle is my mentors athlete that he manages. He is a former Warrior basketball player and is now writing books. It is amazing to see how much goes on with an ex-basketball player in one day. Things can come out of nowhere and you have to deal with them right away. I am learning to be versatile and flexible to these challenges being thrown my way. Many positive experience have arose from this internship. I have met a good amount of people in the industry and have learned that the more people you know, the more successful you will be. It is frustrating when you work hard on something and then something happens to that project and you have to just cancel it. This happens quite often in this business. When you are given a task with little time to complete it, you have to learn time management. I have learned to set out a plan for the day in terms of what time I will be doing things in order to be most efficient. This internship has taught me a lot.

                                                       

Word Cloud

Personality Tests

The results for my Holland Codes were Realistic, Investigative, and Conventional. The realistic part of this test makes perfect sense for me because I am a very realistic person. I will always think logically and make sure that what I’m doing is possible and a good decision before committing to something. The investigative part of makes sense in this test because I like to search for explanations. It makes perfect sense for me and it might help apply in college and work because I will always have answers. The conventional part of the test makes the most sense, because I never like to be in an uncommon workplace. I like to be in a normal place that stays the same in order to work efficiently. The Myers-Briggs test showed that I am an introverted, sensing, thinking, perceiving person. These attributes all fit me perfectly. The test shows that I am a crafter. It says that I am very resourceful, reserved, but I will get something done when it needs it be done efficiently. I do that a lot. I am very reserved, which means that I hold a lot of opinions to myself. I often regret that part about myself but that’s part of my success. I am a very hard worker. When an assignment is given to me I will plan a time to do it, and execute. This will be a huge factor in the success of my college and professional career. These were very accurate tests, and I like my qualities.

TED Talk

                I watched a TED talk about cricket and how the sport has changed so much over the years. The title of the TED talk was “The rise of crocket, the rise of India”. The author was Harsha Bhogle, and the talk was filmed in India in November of 2009. It was more of just an example for how all sports have turned this way but it is mostly about sports development. Harsha Bhogle talks about how the simple game of cricket which was played locally and was just a fun hobby turned into one of the biggest places of business in India and the world. It is truly amazing to see such a small little sport can turn into something so big. Harsha was talking about how the small groups that started putting money into clubs, which became large groups competing with each other for large sums of money. He said that the people truly were the reason for the uprising of this sport. It all has to do with popularity and entertainment. Cricket met that criteria. I would recommend watching it to others because he talks about in such anyway that he makes it sound like an accident. That is true about most successful things. If you do what you love, the recognition will come after it.

SMART Goals

One of my goals for senior year is to get a 4.0 GPA. This is very easy goal to keep track of and measure. When I apply myself I do very well academically so I can definitely complete this goal. This goal is relevant to my future and life because it will keep me practicing a good work ethic which will help in college and work. I will complete this goal by mid-June, when school gets out. Another goal of mine is to buy a car. Particularly a car that is 2008 or newer. Once I buy this car I will have completed my goal. I have a job and have a collection of shoes that are worth close to 1500$, so I will be able to buy it easily. Buying this car will help me save gas, because it will have a good mpg, and that will help me save more money. I will finally make my own large purchase which I will be proud of. I want to complete this goal by March of 2014. My third goal is that I want to win my fantasy football league. I know this goal sounds silly and not smart, but I want my career to be in sports and fantasy football increases your sports knowledge drastically. This goal is relevant to my life because I want career in sports. It is realistic for me winning because I am very good at fantasy football. Winning the league is measurable. Another reason for having this goal, is that the award for winning the league is 1200$. This goal will be completed by February when the football season ends. Smart goals has made it simple to make realistic goals. It is a great tool.

Goals

I am a very private person. I don’t often like sharing my emotions because I think it is just unnecessary to be emotional. I do very rarely show my emotions with very few people and tell them my goals. I trust these people and I rely on them to give me advice on achieving these goals. The first person that helps me achieve my goals is my mom. My mom is a very nice person by nature, and she raised me to be that way. One of my main goals is to be the kindest person that I can be, and she continues to embed that quality into my personality with good parenting. The second person I rely on to help me reach my goals is my dad. My dad is a successful policeman and I admire his work ethic. A goal of mine is to have a good work ethic because I think that will result in great rewards. My dad shows me what I need to do to have a great work ethic. The next person I trust to help me reach my goals is my friend, Imadh Ansari. Imadh is a very smart person. He has a 4.4 GPA and I look at him for academic guidance. He helps me reach my academic goals by pushing me to be my best. Tyler Whisenhunt is a very good friend of mine. He knows that I have confidence issues and, that I need to break out of my shell. He helps me get my confidence up by giving me pep talks. Being confident is one of my main goals. The last person I put my trust in for helping with my goals is my uncle Dave. Dave talks to me about finding a balance in life and really just trying to be happy. My main goal in life is to be happy, and Dave talks to me about the key points in being happy. These people help my reach my goals.

I have been known to be a procrastinator, but I like to think of it as that I’m “deadline motivated”.  One thing that I have procrastinated on is applying for colleges. I’m going to start looking online this week to end this procrastination. Another thing that I put off is talking about my feelings to someone. I think that I need to do that this week to unload my stress. It is an odd thing to ignore, but I need to catch up my sleep, so I will set aside 12 hours to catch up on sleep this next week one night to help myself get focused. I also procrastinate studying for SAT’s. I have taken it once but I need to study more for my second time taking them. I need to set aside some time this week to really study my SAT’s. My final procrastination issue is that I need to sell my shoes in order to buy a car. I have a very extensive shoe collection and I want to sell a majority of them to get money for a car. I need to find some potential buyers this week. It feels good to put the goals for the week in writing.

Introduction

        

My name is Sean Molloy and I am senior at California High School. I am currently enrolled in a class named "iQuest". This class is designed for me to pursue my passion. My passion that I chose for this class is sports management. The reason that a chose this passion is that my entire life has so far revolved around sports. I've been playing and watching sports for as long as I can remember, which is the reason I decided to look into the businesses-side of sports. I found a very interesting internship at a company called "Bay Area Sports Management", and it gives me a look into the business of sports management.

I am a senior, and in my mind that is the year you have to start to transfer into an adult. I have many plans in my senior year to help me gain the experience to be on my own and fend for myself. My first goal of senior is to get a 4.0 GPA and not fall behind academically. Another goal of mine is to continue working at San Ramon Golf Course, so I can save up for college with the money I make. Since I just started my internship with Bay Area Sports Management, I would like to really do well in that business and learn a lot. Senior year is going to be a big step for me becoming the adult I would like to be and really mature.

The reason I am so involved in sports is because I don't remember a time when my life didn't revolve around sports. I have played almost every sport that you can name but I have some favorites, which include baseball, basketball, lacrosse, and football. I played baseball for 9 years, and it was the first sport that I really did well in. I've always loved playing baseball with my friends or going and watching my favorite MLB team, the San Francisco Giants. Then comes my favorite sport I've ever played, which is basketball. Since I am 6'4 it makes sense that I would like basketball. Basketball has always been the sport that I've been the best at. Whenever there were things happening in my life socially, academically, or mentally basketball was the sport that would take my mind off everything. I would love to be playing for the CHS basketball team still but I sadly can't due to my concussion, which I will talk about later. Next comes the toughest sport that I have ever played, which is football. This is a sport that will mentally change your outlook on team sports. This sport makes whatever team your own feel like family because of the bond you have with your teammates. I picked up this sport my first year of high school so I didn't get to play it as much as I wanted too. Even though I never seemed to be put in the proper position, loved this sport for the experience. Lastly on my favorite sports list is lacrosse. Lacrosse is another sport that i picked up my first year of high school. This sport I loved because of the way the sport is played. Everyone says that it is very much like basketball and that is the main reason that is started playing. I became very fond of the skill and athletic abilities I gained while playing the fun sport.

I sadly do not play any of those sports competitively anymore. Due to a concussion that I suffered from in March of my sophomore year, and cannot play anymore sports for the school. I was in a class called Sports Conditioning, and while playing a game I got knocked into a cement wall head first. I suffered a concussion. I did not know of the concussion until three weeks after I received it. By the time I became aware of the concussion I had already had Post Concussive Syndrome. This meant that my brain was very sensitive and could not be working at the capacity that it was working at, at the time. I was then removed from school and sports for one month. After the month I was able to return to sports but my doctor highly recommended that I didn’t return, because if I did return and suffer another concussion then I would be out of school for even longer. Knowing that school comes first, I stopped playing sports so my school wouldn’t suffer. I don’t regret my decision, but I am disappointed I can’t play sports competitively anymore.

I am very family oriented. I love to spend time with my family. I have a mom, a dad, and a little sister. My dad is a police lieutenant for San Mateo Police Department. We often spend hours talking about our favorite sports teams and joking around. My mom is a Pre-School director at Kids’ N Art. When she has her program going I love to play and watch after the kids which is something we both like. My sister is a sophomore at California High School. She plays lacrosse and cheers for CHS and is very studious like me. My family is the most important thing to me, and I make sure there is always time for family.

When I graduate high school I have two different plans that I will choose from. On option is that I will go to DVC for two years and then transfer to a four year college. The other option is that I go straight to a four college. I haven’t made my decision because I don’t know how I will feel at the end of this year. If I feel that I am ready to be on my own, and feel that I have saved up enough money, then I will go straight to a four year college. If I feel that I might need some more time to mature or that I’m not fully financially ready to be on my own, then have no problem going to DVC for two years and then transferring. After that I would like to pursue a career in sports marketing, but I have no idea what my future holds. I hope you learned a lot about me and what I have planned for my last year of high school and my future after high school. Thank you for taking the time to learn about me.