Jacob Wolski made a pitch to his mentors at The Lodge at Ventana Canyon to expand his role at the golf course to gain skills in business operations and time management.
How did you get your internship?
I moved to Tucson from Chicago back in 2019 to start school at UA. My parents had friends living here who were members of the golf course at The Lodge at Ventana Canyon. I ended up getting a part time job working on the golf course. I have worked here ever since and it has been one of my favorite jobs. When I was thinking about what kind of internship I wanted to pursue for the internship course, I made a pitch to some of the golf directors and asked them about possibly interning for them. So, while I have been working part time at the golf course, I have expanded my responsibilities to work with my mentor on the business side of the golf course as well.
What new skills did you practice and develop in this internship?
Some new skills that I practiced and developed throughout my internship would definitely be leadership, creative problem solving, and time management. I feel that I have already had strong leadership skills but, before this experience, I have never been in a position at a job where I needed to be a leader in a large group of coworkers and clients so this was really interesting to experience. One skill that I had to continuously practice was time management. I learned quickly that at a golf course, time management is an important part of the client experience and business operation. If one thing is off schedule, the rest of the day is too. So time management is a skill I have definitely learned to manage and practice at my job and also in my personal life because of having to balance school and internship responsibilities.
How was the internship related to your Applied Humanities degree?
Applied humanities is really learning about the full human experience. It is about figuring out things about yourself, other cultures, and environments to effectively work together and create a positive experience for everyone. My internship is related to my Applied Humanities degree because I learned about the skills I am good at and practiced how to apply those to certain areas of my life. My internship on a golf course involves managing people, administrative and financial work, and physical labor as well. By being able to work in those different areas, I was able to identify my skills and what areas I need to develop professionally. I was also able to see how I work with others around me to make a positive impact at my place of work.
What was a meaningful moment of your internship?
There was a very meaningful part of my internship that has stuck with me and probably will for a long time. The golf course that I have been working at is on the side of a mountain so some of the holes and tee-boxes are steep. One day at my internship, when I was driving around checking in on some players, a group of golfers got my attention because one of them had fallen down about 10 feet off the side of a wall. I stepped in right away to assess the situation.
At first glance, I thought maybe he just couldn't get up, so I jumped down and tried to pick him up. That is when I realized he had split open the entire back of his head on a rock. I quickly asked one of the other golfers for a shirt or cloth of some type and placed it behind his head and kept him awake until the paramedics arrived.
This moment was meaningful to me because I potentially saved a life while at my internship. I took action quickly and showed my leadership in delegating tasks to help get someone medical care. There was no one around those golfers and if I hadn't driven by at the right time, who knows what could have happened. I am happy I was able to act under pressure and take responsibility in a stressful situation.
What did you find challenging about your internship?
One challenge I can think of was time and stress management. At the beginning of my internship, I felt that everyday there were so many tasks to be completed and I felt very overwhelmed. While I had my mentor and other co-workers to help me, I felt that I needed to find a way to figure out how to manage these tasks efficiently on my own. I wanted to show that I could solve problems independently. I learned a lot about myself because I didn't give up when I felt overwhelmed and dealing with that pressure helped me develop creative ways to complete every task that was given to me.
What was the most significant contribution you made?
A significant contribution I made at my internship was re-organizing and re-thinking the bag storage room for the golf course. We have hundreds of members that like to keep their golf bags at the club so they do not have to drag it home everyday. The bags were basically just thrown into a room and my co-workers and I would have to dig to try and find them everyday, which was inefficient and stressful when trying to keep on schedule. I took the initiative to organize the room by organizing the member’s names and member numbers in alphabetical order. I created an Excel spreadsheet and listed the names in order and created labels. I then used them in the storage room and moved all the bags to the corresponding place. That project that I initiated made a direct impact in how our team worked with members and made the process more streamlined.
How has your internship experience influenced your plans for your future?
There are a lot of ways that my internship experience influenced my plans for the future. One of the biggest things I did while at my internship was network with a lot of successful people. The club I work at is a very prestigious organization and a lot of the members own their own businesses. I was able to have conversations with a lot of fascinating people. I have never really had an exact goal of what I want to do as a career, but being able to learn from the diverse experiences of these people has helped me realize there are so many different careers out there that I can be successful in whatever step I take next.