Summer Fun
July 19, 2007 11:01 AM | General
July 19, 2007
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – For most college students the summer before their senior year is a time to relax with friends, enjoy fun in the sun, take some memorable road trips and attempt to mentally block out the reality of the 9-to-5 world that awaits them in a year.
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| Kiley Harris finishes her three-month internship with Nike in early August before fall soccer camp begins.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
Just don’t tell that to West Virginia’s Kiley Harris.
The senior women’s soccer forward is in the midst of a 10-week internship at the Nike Headquarters in Portland, Ore., working in their corporate responsibility division. Harris, who began her internship on May 29 and will finish Aug. 3, said she has seen up close all the work Nike does to ensure it complies with industry standards.
Harris works on a variety of small projects but her main job is to link up rating system codes so they will be the same for compliance as they are for footwear and apparel. She looks at a lot of Nike factories that supply college’s athletic apparel.
“A lot of colleges care a lot about whether their products are being made the right way,” Harris said. “I look at the factories that make those products for colleges and I look at those factory ratings. Nike rates its factories with letters A through D so I look to see if the factories meet approval for colleges.”
Harris is also looking at factories that make products for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She is looking at the factories that produce the apparel for each country that will wear Nike, doing their ratings report card, and determining if they need an audit.
The Nike Headquarters is comprised of a two-mile, campus-like atmosphere complete with numerous buildings, a lake, athletic facilities, workout centers and restaurants. Harris says the buildings are all named after famous athletes that Nike sponsors such as Tiger Woods, Mia Hamm, Lance Armstrong and Michael Jordan.
While she has heard that both Jordan and Brandi Chastain have been on campus since she began her internship, Harris realizes that if she ever crosses paths with a famous athlete she will have to remind herself to remain calm.
“They tell us all in orientation that if we see someone famous we can’t go up to them and try to get an autograph or anything,” Harris said. “We pretty much have to treat them like our co-worker and pretend like we don’t notice them.”
While the prospect of rubbing shoulders with Tiger Woods would be the thrill of a lifetime for many, Harris says that isn’t the biggest perk of her internship this summer.
“We get access to the employee store with all of Nike’s new apparel and footwear and it’s 50 percent off for all employees,” Harris said. “That’s been really cool.”
The sport management major has also enjoyed access to the headquarters’ workout facilities and the pick up women’s soccer team she recently discovered.
“I play pick up soccer at lunch every Monday, Wednesday and Friday with a team called the Swoosh. I also train on Sunday afternoon,” Harris said. “It’s been nice to get to play with other people. I just figured I would be out here training by myself. I’m actually playing more right now than I would be if I was in Morgantown.”
Harris describes her internship as “an opportunity of a lifetime,” but many may wonder how a West Virginia soccer player from Cicero, Ind., got an opportunity to work in the Great Northwest.
During the 2005 season, Harris and the WVU soccer team traveled to Oregon to play the University of Portland. During the weekend-long tournament, the team ventured to the Nike Headquarters for a tour. Harris was intrigued by the place and started exchanging e-mails with West Virginia alum and vice chair of the WVU Alumni Association Board of Directors Charlie Brown, Senior Director of Global CR Compliance for Nike. He encouraged her to apply for his internship with corporate responsibility and things snowballed from there.
Harris is enjoying her work with corporate responsibility but her dream is to one day work in the marketing department at Nike.
“I’m working on a marketing project involving a camp for high school soccer players,” Harris said. “I’m trying to do a lot of networking in marketing and brand marketing. A lot of interns have come back to work for Nike.”
While Harris has been incredibly busy working on various projects, she insists her summer hasn’t been all work and no play.
“This weekend I went to the north coast of Oregon with some friends. We went to Cape Lookout and Cannon Beach. It is really cool. It’s like the beach but really rocky and mountainous,” Harris said.
At least she made time for one road trip this summer.
