 Summer
Fenway Internship
Wins Convert to Red Sox Nation
Though she may not have been
a Red Sox fan when she first reported to Fenway Park for
her summer internship with the team, it only took
a couple days for Meaghan Fileti ’12 to become one.
“I sort of fell in love with the Red Sox,” she says, after spending the first
week, in June, sorting through fan mail to team players. “Boston is extremely
faithful to their team and you don’t see that many other places. The fan base
for the Red Sox is really something incredible.”
Hailing from Palos Verdes Estates,
Calif., Fileti (forgivably) grew up a fan of the nearby Los
Angeles Dodgers. “I am a huge baseball fan and always have
been. Baseball is America’s pastime and there is nothing better than being a
part of America’s oldest sport.”
After one summer in Beantown,
one might say Fileti is a convert. “I’d really
love to see the Red Sox play the [Philadelphia] Phillies
in the World Series,” she
says. “But
we will just have to wait and see.”
A view from the Green
Monster—the best place to watch the Sox, says Fileti. |
Fileti, an economics major,
became interested in the Red Sox internship as a way to learn
about the business of sports. Her job, which ended last week,
was in the Fenway Ballpark Planning and Development office,
which focused on signage and updates within the ballpark,
keeping the facility in repair and ready for home events.
Her main task on the job was
selling replica bricks for the park’s
100th Anniversary Brick Program during every home game. Each brick she sold represents
a brick to be affixed inside Fenway in 2012 to celebrate the park’s milestone
anniversary.
Fileti learned invaluable lessons
about the professional world, she says, as a result of her
Red Sox internship, including effective ways to interact
on the job, the importance of a positive attitude no matter
the task, and to ask for help when it’s needed.
But her favorite aspect of the
job was making people happy. “I love being around people,” she says, “and there is nothing
better than being able to put a smile on someone’s face.”
Sadly, Fileti reports, she and
other interns had limited contact with the team players,
because the players are either on the road or busy when at
the park. Nonetheless, she was able to watch them during
every home game, especially after the seventh inning, when
her brick booth closed up and she headed for the Green Monster
to catch the end of the game.
“There is nothing better than being able to watch the game from there,” she attests.
Especially when her favorite
player, first baseman and hitter extraordinaire Adrian Gonzalez,
comes to the plate. “Not only is he a superb baseball player
but he is extremely down to earth,” she says. “He has really proved himself after
being traded [to the Red Sox] from the [San Diego] Padres.”
Sure enough—a converted Red Sox fan all the way. |
