One of the best feelings a person can feel is that sense of pleasure as they are walking into work, somewhere that they feel both proud and comfortable to be. Nothing can beat that feeling, and while I would feel a lot more comfortable walking into work that has a little something more to do with my English major and my subsequent love of writing, it is hard to pass up the opportunity to teach and explain things that you may take for granted and see their faces light up with excitement and appreciation.
I have been working at the Boston Sports Museum for about three weeks now, and while that is not a ton of time on its own, it’s been incredibly beneficial for not just my psyche but my day-to-day lifestyle. Coming out of last academic year, I was in a pretty bad headspace, trying not to let grades pull my self-esteem down too much while trying to find summer work. Landing this job this summer was probably the best thing I could have asked for in return.
I myself am not much of a sports guy, although I did play soccer up through my freshman year of high school. From then on, I was on the Ultimate Frisbee team at my school until “the team wanted to be more legitimate,” AKA it was no longer a non-cut sport. In order to graduate, I had to do some type of physical education, so I found an online Bowling program with Brigham Young University and enrolled in it. I can’t say that I have learned a ton from the program, but I did manage to set my all time high score at 180 (with 300 being a perfect score), so that is at least something to shake a stick at.
The Sports Museum is located in TD Garden, which is also home to North Station, so commuting into work in the morning is a piece of cake. The Garden is owned by the same company that owns the Bruins, so there is a large amount of Bruins representation in the arena, but there still is a fair amount of Celtics memorabilia as well. Being a Sox fan from a young age, however, I couldn’t care less about the C’s and the B’s, but from spending so much time around the Garden, I’ve grown a close bond to them merely from talking about them all day long and watching clip after clip of highlights from their best moments.
One of my favorite parts of my job, however, is not leading tours or getting to see people get excited when we show off Shaq’s size 23 sneakers: it’s the respect that I receive from everyone else on staff. Every time I pass someone in the hall, they are always incredibly warm and friendly. One time I was leading a tour group through the locker room corridor and a security guard came right up to me, asked me how I was, and shook my hand. The only time I ever felt a sense of appreciation from a “customer”,such as the one I get now was when I was volunteering at my local hospital, and I was transporting an older man or woman back to their room after an exam.
Again, I cannot express enough how wonderful it feels to get that kind of respect from co-workers, let alone people that work around you that you’ve never met before. It is a truly humbling experience that I sincerely hope everyone has the chance to experience at least once in their lives. All things considered, however, it never hurts to be able to sit in an empty arena and watch as a crew of men assemble a stage for a Barbra Streisand concert. That is always, and will always remain, and pretty novel experience of its own.
