Morten Esbjørn

Growing up in Denmark I was exposed to and became passionate about sports at an early age. After attending Copenhagen International School I choose to attend Indiana University in Bloomington because of its great Sport Marketing and Management program. Secondly, Coming to IU was a great learning opportunity to become more adaptable and to challenge myself. The idea to study abroad started after my father had an opportunity to work in either Singapore or Norway and to bring the family with him. Given the decision I chose Singapore because it was something completely new and different. I had never spoken English regularly and other than my parents I knew nobody. It was an eye opening and rewarding experience as I thrived in a new culture and with a new language.

The next step in my journey would be to go abroad, but on my own. I adapted quickly, even outside my comfort zone. It was great that there was no one else who spoke my language because it forced me to speak English all the time. This enabled me to learn to become more open with people. Singapore had made me aware of the difficulty of talking to people with different backgrounds, cultures and the issues a language barrier can pose. I was determined not to let that hinder me and as a result I am much more open minded to people and their viewpoints. Over the course of the four years at IU I worked my way up through the Student Athletic Board (SAB) to becoming vice president of communication my senior year along with being a marketing intern with IU Athletics. Some of the skills I have enhanced through these experiences include being creative, managing a website, implementing and executing marketing strategies, doing market research, communicating effectively and efficiently and being able to sell an experience.

Through these experiences I have grown even fonder of working in the sports industry. Working in this industry provides a different feeling from being a spectator and I never imagined how fulfilling it could be. At this point I think it is more rewarding to work a game day rather than be the one playing in the game. My preference for working in sports is with football and/or soccer, but regardless of the sport I will work passionately and with purpose. My goal is to be the marketing director for a professional team, college or an organization that works with sports. Although, my childhood dream of being the general manager of Arsenal would not be too bad either.