Meet Bob...

This is Bob the Bronze, my final intern project.  My very last day of my internship the managing director of my department walked into my cube about 30 minutes after I got to work and said "So are you taking the gold medal home?"  At that point I was super confused, which I am sure I conveyed to her by the look on my face.  She asked me if her assistant, my cube neighbor, had asked me about taking Lindsay Vonn's medal to US Ski and Snowboard (USSA) in Park City.  She had not asked me about that, but of course I would be happy to do that...  I had to drive right by Park City anyway, right?

She then told me that I had to sign the chain of custody paper and then not let the medal out of my possession until I dropped it of at USSA.  That was somewhat problematic it being my last night in Colorado Springs with my friends.  I drove home Saturday without incident, thank goodness!  First thing Monday morning Bob was dropped off at USSA, the VP of Athletics signed the chain of custody and my mission was complete!  I felt like my internship was complete with this project, and I was very honored that my department felt I was trustworthy enough to take on this "mission"...

Here are a few more pictures of Bob for good measure:

I cannot wait to get back to the USOC one day, hopefully sooner rather than later...  For now, I am going to go back to posting on my "normal" blog: haleyelizabethsmith.blogspot.com

Thanks for reading!

Final Intern Project

Get excited about a post on my final intern project!  For those of you who follow me on Facebook and Twitter.  I am going to reveal who/what Bob is...

Winding Down

This has the potential to be the most emotional week of my entire time here in Colorado Springs.  For example, I've cried twice already today and its only 9:30 in the morning.  It doesn't help that I am terrible at goodbyes, always have been.  But it also doesn't help that I have become so close to these girls over the past three months

I'll admit that when I first got here, I expected to have a great experience at work, but I didn't expect to meet people that I know I will be friends with for the rest of my life.  These girls are so amazing and I cannot imagine what my internship would have been without them, probably boring!

This morning I had to say goodbye to my roommate as she goes back to Oklahoma to get ready for her last year of grad school.  This relationship especially surprised me.  I haven't had to share a room with someone since I was a freshman in college, and for those of you counting, that was 7 years ago.  So I was worried about what was going to happen...  Needless to say we became friends so quickly and by the end it seemed like I was saying goodbye to one of my best friends.  I could/can tell Chelsea anything and I know that we will be friends for a very long time, I love you CHELS

I am very grateful not only for the opportunity to further my career and find out that the Olympics and the Olympic movement is really where I want to be in my life, but for the fantastic people that I got to meet along the way!

Next Saturday, when I leave to drive home, I'll probably cry until I get to Denver, or maybe all the way through Wyoming...

A little update

I have been terrible at updating this!  Sorry faithful readers (if there are any)...

I thought that I would write what I did everyday but its kinda boring after a while, but now I will update you on a few things that I have been working on.

Youth Olympic Games
Currently, my main focus is the Youth Olympic Games.  I am helping with Registration for the games.  Making sure that each of the athletes forms are filled out correctly and organizing/keeping track of them.  I am also working on the apparel.  Most of it arrived today, tomorrow we are going to count and organize it so that we can send all of the apparel off to the athletes before they leave for the games in Singapore in August.  I have also been helping with the ticket order.  I have organized all the envelopes so when the members of my department get to Singapore all they will have to do is look at the envelopes and add the appropriate tickets and hand them off to the families.

Vancouver 2010
Each athlete and staff member receives a number of commemorative items after the Olympic Games.  I have been working on preparing to send out the watches that were ordered in Vancouver in February.  Its a lot of pieces to coordinate, and of course the watches are arriving the same week as the YOG apparel, so they are going to be put on the back burner for now, but as soon as the apparel is out to the Singapore kids we are going to send out those watches, and we are ready to do it!

Guadalajara 2011 (Pan American and Para Pan American Games)
I've been working on helping make the accreditation process better, through modifying and helping to organize the spreadsheet where we keep track of everything.  Guadalajara is not super prepared, they just started building the village in the middle of June, and the PanAm games are only a year away!

London 2012
My supervisor started working here almost a year ago, and she inherited some pretty interesting spreadsheets from the people before her.  She asked me to review them, and they were pretty hard to use.   So I took the ones that they used in Vancouver for the Nike and Polo Ralph Lauren apparel given to the athletes and coaches, and retooled them so they are ready for use for the London 2012 Summer Games.  I've also been in a few planning meetings for PRL and Nike.  It's exciting to work on Games that are so close.  I really hope to be in the organization full time by London 2012

So that is a little bit of what I've been doing this summer, plus, other duties as assigned :)

Round 2 with the Mountain of Death...

Remember this post about the Incline?  That day I only made it half way to the top of that beast.  Today I conquered the entire thing!  I hit the half way point today and walked right by it...  I figured out the secret to Incline success, my iPod.  From all my years of skating, I've been trained to step to the beat.  Whether it be a step-cross or step-step while running or climbing the stairs of the Incline, I do it faster and more consistently when there is a quick beat.  That really helped me today, I would climb for a song and the rest for a few seconds to catch my breath and then keep climbing...  Then we ran down the trail back to the car so that we could get back for dinner.  We soon realized that we weren't going to make it even if we ran down the entire thing, so we called our friends and they got us some dinner from the Caf...  We had some yummy quesadilla when we got home!  Now its off to bed for this girl :)

5K Crazy

I don't know what it is about living at an Olympic Training Center, but it makes you want to work out all day everyday!  That is what I have been doing :)  After work we usually head home, change, and go straight to the weight room.  On Tuesdays, we take our workout clothes to work and do the Jack Quinn's 5K.  If you run this 10 times you get a t-shirt.  Let's be serious, I am not a runner.  Before last week, I had only run the distance of a 5k once before (Salt Lake Marathon 5K which I finished in about 46 minutes).  Last week, I beat my Salt Lake Marathon time and came in around 43 minutes.  This week, I came in at 40 minutes, which still isn't the greatest time in the world, but it's pretty good for a non-runner :)  There are 11 Tuesdays left of my time here in Colorado Springs, so by the end of the summer I will have run 55K or 34.1 miles, on Tuesdays alone!  If I am not in better shape when I leave this place, something is wrong...

Nights Out...

We are trying to experience everything that the Springs has to offer, including the night life...  Here are some of the things we've been doing after work:

My awesome roomie on the Bull at Cowboys

Singing Karoke at the Finish Line, where the crowd consists of "athletes, interns, and homeless people" (direct quote from Ian Jaray, my predecessor)

Chelsea wears her sunglasses at night :)

The Incline

I promised that I would post about the Incline, and that was over a week ago, sorry about that!  I am going to preface this post with a disclaimer: I only did half the incline...  I know LAME but I literally thought I was going to puke and one of the guys in my department was proud of me for even attempting it after the weekend of fun the interns had.

We started out with a pretty good pace, but after a little but I started counting stairs.  Making myself do 20 stairs at a time and then 10, and then just taking one step at a time.  By the halfway mark I was feeling a little lightheaded (the air is thinner up there) and my legs were protesting very loudly!  Three of us decided to take the bail out trail and head back to the car.  Needless to say, the trail down was fantastic!  Here are some of the pictures I took...

The girls before the trip up...

Yes, that is the trail going straight up!

The view from where we bailed!

Rachie and Katie my fellow bailers :)

So beautiful!

Headed down

Intern Assimilation

The title of this blog is all that we were told as far as what today's events were going to include.  Wikipedia tells me that assimilation comes from the latin word assimilatio meaning to make similar, but from our perspective it seemed like a strange word to use, how about orientation?  I personally like orientation better, but that's just me, I never have been good with latin :)

Today promised to be full of team building exercises and being told for the 100th time that we are not allowed to have alcohol in the dorms, which can sound pretty boring if you are expecting the run of the mill ice breakers and what type of personality am I tests.  Here in USOC land we team build by watching an awesome 1990 plane crash video, which I am confident inspired the ABC hit TV show LOST and then do the traditional "what of your supplies do you use first" exercise.  Why is it always the stupid little things that always are the most important things for those exercises?  I need to remember this for future team building experiences, the dumb mirror in the cosmetic case can help you live in the desert for at least 3 days after a plane crash.  My team did really well.  Two of us got to pick our teams and the rest were just assigned...  I got to pick my team!  And we kicked some major ass, well the closest team to us was within 4 points but everyone else was WAY off!  Not that we are competitive or anything...  It's hard not to have a competitive energy when nearly everyone in the room competed in intercollegiate athletics on some level.

We also heard from some amazing speakers, and if you know me you know how passionate I am about the Olympic Games, I get goosebumps and teary when anyone talks about it because I believe in it so much and I love seeing and helping people succeed.  Anyway, Kelly Skinner spoke to us and he could not be more inspiring, he was an intern 14 years ago and apparently he is one of the most helpful people around the USOC, he's a pro networker and made me feel like I really was doing the right thing by pursuing things that I am passionate about and not necessarily what is going to make me the most money when I get done with school, love it!

Planning on getting lots of bonding in over the weekend including a nice little run/walk/survive of this...

It's called the incline, its a mile and half hike that climes over 2,000 ft in elevation, rumor has it that Apolo Ohno ran it in 17 minutes...  I am just hoping to survive it and live to do it again!

Happy Weekend!

Roomie!

As some of you may know, I have not had the best of roommate situations in my life, especially when sharing a room with someone.  I also haven't shared a room with someone since freshman year in college (2003-04).  So naturally I was a little worried about what was going to happen this summer sharing a room with someone for 3 months in essentially a dorm type situation.  

I met my roommate on the second day that I was here and the first day of work.  She is awesome!  We like the same things (think bad reality tv shows ala Toddlers and Tiaras and The Real Housewives of New York) and neither of us are really into the people pleasing scene so we get along very well!  I am excited for the summer :)

Movin' on Up

Second day on the internship started out well.  This week I am working on some informational interviews to get to know the people in my department better.  It's really been good to get to know everyone and let them get to know me.  Today I had two of these interviews and they both worked out really well.  I learned  a lot about the two people and they got to learn more about me and where I am in my current educational/job search.  The thing I like the most is that the people in my department really want me to get the experience that I need and want to get where I want to go with my career.  I love that!

Today I also worked on organizing the photos that the 2010 Olympians took with President and First Lady Obama.  The photos need to be signed by the President before they go out to the athletes.  I am also working some stuff for the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore in August, the Pan American Games for 2011 and the 2012 Summer Games in London, and the department is planning for 2014 in Russia!  You have to look that far ahead to plan for ALL those athletes, coaches, staff, and extra people.

Anyway, I am loving life in CO Springs so far!

First Day

Today was my first day on the job, it started out with me getting lost!  Once Katie found me, everything went up from there.  I met everyone that I will be working with and got a tour of the new offices.  I have my very own cubicle, name plate, and compter (which I hear is rare).  I already got some projects to work on and I am excited for the rest of the summer.

It was a very long day, as I have been living a life of leisure as of late, sleeping in and doing whatever I want on my own pace.  I really loved it but I am about to CRASH!  Early bedtime for this girl...

On My Own (cue Les Mis soundtrack)

My mom left really early this morning.  I dropped her at the airport as the sun was about to come up (5:30am)...  Before she left, we went to dinner last night at The Melting Pot.  It was amazing!  I'd never been there and I ate WAY too much but last night will definitely not be my last time :)

Our dessert course, the Flaming Turtle, changed my life!

After I dropped my mom at the airport I went back to our hotel to try and get some sleep.  Long story short, I couldn't sleep so I got up watched some TV and lounged for the morning.  I got all my stuff together and headed over to my new home, the OTC.  I still don't have a roommate, but I talked to my boss and she's thinking that I am among the first to move in so I still might get someone to share my abode with.  I took some pictures of my room...

This is my half of the room, from the door

My half from the other half

The sad empty other half, with the sink and fridge

My bed, that I have to high jump to get on...  hey, this is the USOC right, we're all about trying new sports in everyday life

After I got done packing I thought it would be fun to attend a local festival, Territory Days was going on in Old Colorado City.  When I was in Colorado Springs for Synchro Skating Worlds, my friends and I ate twice in Old Colorado City because its so cute!  I would compare it to Main St in Park City, minus the steep incline.  The festival requested that you park at Coronado High School and take the bus so I headed for CHS.  I get there and apparently the parking lot was full so the guy directed me to some ranch, I told him I wasn't from the area so he gave me directions that were really rough.  I thought I had it and the line was really long.  He told me to u-turn and head out so I did just that, meanwhile a school bus is headed right for me!  The guy working the parking lot gave me NO indication that the shuttle was coming this way.  Naturally, I feel a little dumb and then to top it off, some lady in a Black Jeep Cherokee yelled out her window, "What, did you miss the BIG, YELLOW BUS headed right for you". I was so embarrassed and mad!  Who is that lady?  Of course I didn't see the bus, otherwise I wouldn't have accidentally turned right in front of it, DUH!  Anyway, so I try to follow the guy's directions but I couldn't remember what he said, all I could remember was the mean lady and her comments!  So I tried and gave up on finding the parking...   Of course I got lost after that, and drove aimlessly around Colorado Springs for about 45 minutes because I didn't know where I was going :(

Finally, I found a mall!  My mom can speak to this but I need no clothes...  She says I have more clothing here in Colorado Springs than she has all together.  Not sure if that is true but I decided not to go into the mall, instead I headed for Starbucks and Barns and Noble.  It was exactly what I needed!  The Jillian Michaels book that I have been wanting and a grande non fat vanilla latte was just the trick, to erase that mean lady from my life.  I read there for a while and then decided I was tired, since I'd been up for 12 hours already so I headed back to attempt a nap.  Nap, fail.  I haven't been feelings so great, I don't have any energy, and I am thinking its because I am doing a total body cleanse (I just started today) and I also haven't been sleeping that well.  Anyway, I went for a run because I felt like I had not made as much of the day as I could have.  Let me tell you right now, Colorado Springs is 2,000 ft higher in elevation than Salt Lake City.  OH MAN did I ever feel that, my arms got tight within 15 minutes and it wasn't too long after that when my quads started protesting.  I used google maps to give me a route because I wanted to run outside, so I ran/walked about 2 miles, which is pretty good.  I want to do another 5K when I get home so I need to start training for that now while I am at a World Class training facility.

Time to sign off blog-o-sphere, my stomach is telling me that I need to get some dinner!  Off to my first experience in a dining hall since Sophomore year of college!

My New Home

I will post more pictures tomorrow of my actual living arrangements, which is essentially a dorm room (big change for someone with their own apartment).  It's actually bigger than I expected and all of my things fit squarely on "my" side of the room.  I don't have a roommate as of yet, I will keep you updated on when that happens.  I met one girl who sadly I have already forgotten her name who is also an intern, she started in January and is leaving in a month but see seemed really nice so hopefully I can get to know her a little bit and have a friend :)

That's all for now, I need a nap really badly and my mom leaves tomorrow REALLY early, we're talking before 5 am!

Road Trip!

My journey began as I picked up my mom at the airport on Friday morning.  We had lunch and went shopping for some business casual clothes as I have never really had a "real" job and my life as a student doesn't really require any sort of dress code.  We found some great deals at the Tanger Outlets in Park City (Go there if you need really great deals, the Memorial Day Sales are pretty epic).  After a successful outing, we drove back down to my apartment and pre-packed the car so that we could get an early start on Saturday.  I had a hard time sleeping Friday night, I can't tell if it was anticipation, nerves or excitement, but it was definitely not restful.

Saturday morning started early as I haven't been able to sleep past 6:30am in weeks.  We finished packing up the car and my mom made fun of me a few times about the amount of stuff I brought to Colorado Springs, then we were off.  Our first pit stop was in Park City (we made it really far) for some breakfast from Whole Foods and a deposit to my bank account before we left the area where Zions Banks can be found.  Finally, we were actually on the road around 11, so much for that early start!  As we made our way through Wyoming which seems like it will never end, I remembered stories from my skating days.  The exhibition we did in Rock Springs where Danielle gave herself a concussion on a hotel railing...  The LONG ride back from Sectionals in Westminster, CO when the bus heat stopped working...  These stories made me a little nostalgic for the times when the hardest decision we had to make was what kind of glitter we were going to wear for the competition and how hard we were going to protest the glue being applied to our hair.  At the same time it made me so excited and proud of how far we have all come since that day.  I had a little bit of a "this is your life" montage, from the girls on the bus to the girls having dinner at Worlds, talking about job issues, families, and relationships, we've come so far!  I am very happy to have all of these women still in my life to support me and I am proud to support them as well.  Anyway, that was my Wyoming experience :)

As we approached Colorado Springs I got really excited and nervous, which if you were in the car you could tell by the speed and duration of my one-sided conversations.  We made it to our hotel around 6:30 (pretty good time), had some dinner and watched a movie.  My mom drugged me with NyQuil so that I would sleep past 6:30 and it worked!  I slept til 7:45.   Now we are just getting ready to move my stuff into the Olympic Training Center.  I am really excited to get started, only 2 days left!

Let's GO Already...

I finished my last exam THREE weeks ago.  I returned from a vacation at my parents house in Florida TEN days ago.  I still have THREE days until I leave for my Olympic adventure.

I'm trying to pack up my life here in Utah, deciding what I will need (want) over the next 3 months.  I feel like I am just going to take everything!  Most of my clothes are already in suitcases, but I feel like I have so much left to do, most of which can't really be done until the last day.  Basically, I am in limbo!  I have time to get all of these things done but its futile to pack it up now just to unpack it the next day.  I'm also getting nervous about leaving my apartment for so long.  I have friends coming to check on it and get my mail for me but it just makes me anxious (I've probably been watching too much Criminal Minds or something)...

I am so excited to get going on my work too.  I think that is what makes this time drag on, I am really excited about the work that I am going to get to do and the experience that I am going to gain through this summer!  Hopefully the rest of the week will go by quickly!

First Post

I plan on using this blog to post about my summer internship at the United States Olympic Committee.  I hope you find it interesting an enlightening :)