EDITOR’S NOTE: Once again this summer, Front Row’s Intern Chronicles series showcases some of ESPN’s summer interns. For more information on ESPN Internships, visit the ESPN Careers site.
Many of ESPN’s interns play or have played a Division I college sport. For one summer intern, that meant not only four years of competition at an Ivy League school but also time spent playing for Mexico’s national soccer team.
Meet Erika Garcia, an intern in Programming from Carson City, Nev. After being the valedictorian of Dayton (Nev.) High School, Garcia attended Harvard University, where she graduated from last month with a degree in government. As a dual citizen, Garcia is a member of Mexico’s Women’s National Team pool and was also a three-year starter at defense for the Harvard Crimson women’s soccer team. Here, Garcia talks about her journey to ESPN and her experiences on the Mexican national team.
What has been the best part about interning at ESPN so far?
I think it’s the people that work here. I have not run across any person, whether it be an intern or a senior vice president, that’s not friendly or not willing to walk past you and say ‘hello’ or ‘good morning’. Everyone is just so helpful and willing to give me exposure to everything.
I think it’s just the friends I made being down there. It’s kind of interesting because half of the team down in Mexico, I would say half is Mexican American like me. It was interesting to see how once we got down there, it didn’t matter who spoke English and who didn’t. It was cool to see soccer be our common denominator and a thing that made us all get along.
Do you have any specific projects that you’re looking forward to completing before the end of the summer?
I’m a huge soccer fan. My boss is actually the director of programming and acquisitions [Sonia Gomez], focusing on soccer.
I think it’s awesome that I’ve gotten a lot of exposure into how she deals with the different leagues and stuff.
Right now I’m doing some US Open and Wimbledon stuff. It’s cool to see how ESPN handles all of these events that I have never really followed that intensely before.
How tough was it to juggle your responsibilities as a student athlete at Harvard?
It actually was a lot easier during season to manage school. It was classes in the morning, usually a nap after and then practices in the afternoon. After practice it was homework and then back to bed. Whereas in the offseason you have a lot more free time.
