Experience Spotlight - Sammy Gitlin, Major League Baseball

In this semester's Experience Spotlight series, the blog will be featuring Cornell ILR SBS members who have excelled in positions in the sports industry. Many talented Cornell students are making impressions all across the sports world, and this is their chance to showcase their experiences.

This week's Spotlight focuses on Samantha Gitlin '16.  Sammy is a junior in Cornell's College of Human Ecology, where she majors in Nutrition and plans to complete the Dietetics Program.

Sammy worked this summer at Major League Baseball's Office of the Commissioner. She interned in the Labor Relations Department under the Senior Director of Drug Policy, and was kind enough to answer some questions about her experience.

What were some of your day-to-day responsibilities of the position?

I had a few large projects over this summer. First, I worked on creating a comprehensive list of foods to be provided to teams when they’re on the road. Second, a large issue in baseball is players taking normal supplements (like protein, vitamins, sleep aids etc.) and then taking drug tests that come back positive. A company has been developed that does extensive drug testing on these sorts of supplements to find out whether or not they are safe for players to take. I helped to research these supplements and I created a list of categories to sort these supplements. I also helped out with a few of the labor economics projects, such as researching sports gambling (particularly in New Jersey) and looking at the newly installed replay system.

How were you able to get the internship?

Family friend connection.

How has this experience shaped your career plans?

I’m planning on pursuing sports nutrition so this was exactly what I needed to get my foot in the door. I’ve learned so much about the industry and I was able to make connections that I wouldn’t have been able to make anywhere else. I’ve learned about how each team’s dietitian prepares meals/meal plans and caters to the team’s intense nutritional needs.

What advice would you give another student interested in a similar experience?

Definitely use any connections that you have to find a cool internship! Think outside the box about places to intern at, you never know who will be hiring.

What was your favorite aspect of the experience?

Getting an inside look into a part of baseball that most people don’t think about. How the players fuel their bodies definitely correlates with their performance, and the dietitians are responsible for that.

Thank you to Sammy and Major League Baseball for allowing us to share this awesome experience. We hope you have learned about some of the wonderful opportunities that Cornell, the ILR School, and the ILR Sports Business Society can provide in the sports world. We hope to feature many more stories from students and employers this fall!