Aiko Jones Makes Most of Her Quarantine Time By Interning
**** STORY ORIGINALLY POSTED TO GOCARDS.COM ****
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The life of a student-athlete can sometimes be tougher in the classroom than it is on the court. Being on the court comes with advantages, sure, but student-athletics live a life much different than the rest of their fellow students.
One of those disadvantages is that student-athletes rarely have an opportunity to participate in professional internships that are many times crucial to find work after college. With training year round and in-season competition and off-season practice, they just don't have the time and resources to make it happen.
But University of Louisville volleyball player Aiko Jones and a number of other Cardinal student-athletes bucked that trend by participating in the Winning Edge Leadership Academy, an organization founded and headed by Corinne Milien, a former student-athlete herself who saw this gap between student athletes and other students, and decided to do something about it.
"A lot of (student-athletes) came from low-income homes or they were first-generation college students, so they didn't know about the importance of internships," Milien said.
That's why five years ago, together with ESPN analyst and host Maria Taylor, she founded the Winning Edge Leadership Academy, which works primarily with minority student-athletes to ensure they have the necessary qualifications to find work after college.
"I think it is an amazing opportunity," Jones said of the program. "Even if you don't want to work in sports, the experience and what you learn from Corrine and other people you work with in Winning Edge is invaluable. Especially with the ability to work remotely, they're very flexible."
After the COVID-19 pandemic cut classes short during the Spring semester, Jones found herself in her hometown of Kingston, Jamaica, trying to figure out what was next.
Through a program she participated in during the early part of the spring semester, she was introduced to Milien and when given the opportunity to participate in Winning Edge she jumped on it.
"With everything that happened and got cancelled with COVID-19, I ended up in Jamaica for a couple months," Jones said. "(A mentor) told me told me that Winning Edge was looking for interns to work remotely so they can get experience and help the organization grow. It seemed like a great opportunity for me, and especially since I had just decided to also major in communications, it was perfect timing.
"Once I got the ropes, I got to venture into social media and graphic design, which is something I want to do. I sort of became the social media intern for them, and I was able to learn new things and how to create graphics for their social media templates. I got to help them refresh their image with all their documents and stuff like that."
Now Jones, a double major in biology and communications, feels much better about her prospects of finding a job after college, meaning she doesn't have to worry about her life as a student-athlete holding her back in the future.
It also served as an opportunity to network with other student-athletes and former student-athletes who have found success after life in the competitive world of NCAA sports.
"They connect you with people in the field, whether that be sports management, sports law, coaching; just anybody who can give us experience and tell us about the opportunities we have as athletes," Jones said.
Other UofL student-athletes who participated in the program included (G.G.) Robinson and Peter Mbanasor from football.
"Louisville has always come through with candidates for our program," Milien said. "Their students have been a great advocate for us."
