Admissions
Lauren Martini
As an undergraduate student at Miami of Ohio, Lauren Martini was active in intramural sports programming and attended lots of related regional conferences. “That’s how I found out about the recreational sports program at IU and how good the reputation was,” said Martini, who is originally from St. Louis. “I traveled a lot in undergraduate school, and I got to see a lot of campuses. Bloomington is one of the most beautiful campuses and unique college towns I’ve ever been to. I decided that’s where I wanted to be.”
Martini’s role as the graduate assistant for Intramural Sports at IU combines elements of public relations, management, and administrative tasks including hiring and training officials, promoting the intramurals program, scheduling, and equipment purchasing. After her graduation this spring, Martini hopes to find a job as a coordinator of intramurals, club sports, or special events. Her current courses range from Recreational Sports Law to Budgeting and Finance. “I’m getting exposed to all aspects of recreational sports, facilities, operations, budgeting, finance—it’s all practical and applicable to the field I’m pursuing,” she says. “I go to class expecting to learn something that will not only help me later in my career, but later that day.”
Another plus? The chance to work closely with professors who are widely published and respected in the field, including Craig Ross and Sarah Young, who’ve made the greatest impact. “When I’ve traveled around, everyone knows who [the HPER professors] are. The opportunity to be taught by them, listen to the things they know, the things they’ve experienced—it’s an opportunity not many other graduate assistants at other schools can get.”
