Major: Sport and Entertainment Management
Hometown: White Plains, N.Y.
Expected graduation: 2023
Career Highlights (so far):
- Four years as part of USC Dance Marathon, serving as vice president of campus relations
this year. In her first three years, Kayla helped raise more than $2.5 million (despite
the pandemic) to support Prisma Health Children’s Hospital.
Kayla says: "I feel like just the opportunity to make such an impact during college is something that's a really unique opportunity. I feel so fortunate: I'm lucky enough to be in a position where I can take my free time and help other people and it's kind of crazy, a group of college students raising a million dollars in a year." - Part-time job at Colonial Life Arena since freshman year.
- Internships with the New York Mets, Learfield and Gamecock Hockey.
- Mentor to freshman Sport and Entertainment Management students.
Kayla says: "My major is something I'm very passionate about. Doing the mentorship has been really rewarding, to see freshmen be passionate about this as well." - As a New York Mets Corporate Partnerships intern in summer 2022, Kayla learned about
and enjoyed the sponsorship side of sports and is considering it as a career option.
The Mets’ owners, Steve and Alex Cohen, contribute to a Children's Miracle Network
hospital on Long Island, and during Kayla's internship she saw how sport and philanthropy
can come together.
Kayla says: "It kind of came very, very full circle. The cancer patients from the children's hospital came and did an event with one of the Mets players and I was talking with the people that worked at the hospital. It was a side of sports I never really thought about before last summer."
Why major in sport and entertainment management?
- Lifelong sports fan, competitive swimmer in high school.
Kayla says: "I've always loved sports. My dad doesn't have a son and I think he took his firstborn and said, 'This is gonna be my sports kid.' I've been going to Mets games since I was one." - A visit to the University of South Carolina as a high school senior and a meeting
with College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management Director of Enrollment Management
and Professional Development Collin Crick sealed the deal.
Kayla says: "He talked about the internships people were doing. People were working with the NFL and the Panthers and it opened my eyes to a whole new world. He was one of the first people that explained to me what the sport and entertainment industry was."