February 2, 2010
By Paul Kruger ('10)

Three weeks into the “real world” has been quite a ride.  From starting in Arlington, Texas two days after leaving Athens, to having to prepare for the arrival of many of the top brass within the Texas Rangers Player Development and Scouting departments, my job with the Rangers has been anything but ordinary.  Every day is a new adventure, a new dream for a Latin American player, and for the Rangers, hopefully another step in the right direction towards building a championship organization.

Throughout the last three weeks I have been given many responsibilities revolving around the international scouting department of the Texas Rangers.  I have had the opportunity to travel to Arlington twice to get some work done at the offices in Arlington Stadium, lend a hand during practices throughout our early spring training camp in the Dominican, scout players from all over the country, and assist with the international departments business operations.  In addition, I have had the opportunity to become a silver Marriott rewards member and rack up over 6,000 frequent flyer miles through AAdvantage in a short three week span.

In addition to the work experiences, the networking I have been able to accomplish and the great people I have met throughout the ride to date have made the time fly by.  During the first two weeks that I was in the Dominican, each of the two hotels that I stayed at were full of not only scouts throughout all of major league baseball, but also relief workers that were either commuting back and forth from Haiti or were on their way to Haiti in the coming days.  Being able to network with scouting directors, international directors, and scouts within different organizations helped me gain more of an understanding of what the business is all about.  Also, meeting people from the Red Cross, the U.S. State Department, and from other relief organizations all over the world has been an amazing experience.  It is truly amazing to hear some of the stories they have about Haiti and other experiences all around the world. Once again, I thank everyone who has lent a hand in any way possible to provide support to Haiti since the devastating earthquake they had to endure.

Throughout the many journeys throughout my first few weeks of on the job, I now truly understand the importance of being organized and overcoming adversity are to being successful in the workplace.  Every single aspect of my job, and almost every job, involves many parts coming together at many different times.  The idea of being able to multi-task and be organized becomes one of the most important elements of the job, and was something that I saw as a weakness entering the program.  

I remember sitting in Copeland Hall 112 less than two years ago during my interview weekend and when the MBA director at that time called my name and asked me what my weaknesses were and how I planned on overcoming these weaknesses. I spoke about how unorganized I am as a person in every aspect.  Well, I feel like going through the OHIO MBA/MSA program really prepared me to become more organized.  Throughout both the MBA and MSA years, you are required to take on many different tasks, deal with many different projects, work with many different groups of people, and participate in outside activities.  Being able to be somewhat organized during my OHIO days helped me then, but once I entered the workforce, the tactics that were preached during the MBA year have allowed me to stay on top of tasks that I would not have been able to do before.

And finally, I believe that the different experiences that each individual and each class goes through during their time at OHIO provide ample opportunities to work on overcoming adverse situations.  Whether this is through a struggling MBA quarter team, battling to work with different organizations throughout the university and the town of Athens who are not as familiar as you are with a product or idea, or cramming to finish a project or study for a test because of a GA requirement, each one of us had to overcome many adverse situations.  The tough times that transpired to produce the high quality projects that our peers inside and outside of the OHIO MBA/MSA family come to expect have prepared me with skills to overcome adverse situations that have arisen with my job and the Dominican in general.

In closing, I just want to reiterate the importance of how the OHIO MBA/MSA curriculum prepared me for dealing with not only the tough times when I am swamped at work, but also for the social element of my life.  Stressing the importance of networking and building relationships has been magnified even more since I have taken my job.  I wholeheartedly believe that this element, combined with the rest of the great things OHIO and the program have to offer, separates our program from the hundreds of others around the country and has taken it to new heights since 1966. Stressing the family nature of the program and the pay it forward attitude has built this program to the level it currently is seen.  OHIO Sports Administration, “We’re still the ONE”.

If you have any questions regarding my journey, the MBA/MSA program from my vantage point, topics you would like me to touch on, or just questions about me in general, please do not hesitate to e-mail me at [email protected]. I will do my best to fulfill all of the requests given to me.