Being Open to Growth

July 2026

By Alexander Bolton

I have always considered myself to be self-aware. Being aware has not always led me to change; it has more often helped me learn about myself. This summer’s internship at the John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Higher Education challenged what I have always understood about myself.
My name is Alexander Bolton, I am a rising senior student-athlete at Brevard College in Brevard, NC. I am a double major in Business and Communication, aspiring to own a marketing and public relations firm. This summer, I interned at the Gardner Institute working on a research project exploring the experiences of collegiate student-athletes. Through survey development, focus groups, and data analysis, our team sought to better understand the factors that influence student-athlete success and satisfaction.

Prior to interning at the Gardner Institute, I only understood higher education from a student perspective. Before taking this internship, I had interned three consecutive summers with BANCO Bannister Marketing & Public Relations Firm in Columbia, SC. Because of the vast difference in work, when coming into this internship, I had to ask myself, what skills did I bring into this research project? I realized that my weaknesses outweighed my strengths in this new field. I have dreamed since I was twelve years old of working in Marketing and PR. This internship did not ask me to use the skills that would prepare me for a marketing job. Instead, I found myself sitting in front of numbers that were telling a story, about a field I knew nothing about.

I spent most of my time developing questions for potential surveys and focus groups for student-athletes and athletic directors. This work was new and exciting for me. Developing questions about the student-athlete experience to gauge the factors leading to student satisfaction or lack thereof has forced me to learn how to ask questions without assuming answers. The true challenge I faced with this work was shifting my perspective. Instead of writing questions as if I were speaking with a peer or discussing a subject I already understood, I had to create questions that allowed participants to tell their own stories.
Learning to differentiate between what questions belong in a survey and what questions will be used for a focus group has given me the greatest test so far. I learned that my job wasn’t simply to write questions; it was to ask questions that would lead respondents to tell us what we needed to know. While I have ideas about what the information is telling me about research, through these questions the respondents’ answers can better inform the hypotheses. Along with the development of survey questions, I was able to learn about the processes of creating a focus group. Before this, I had participated in a focus group and understood their purpose. Now, I had the chance to help design one and conceptualize it for our research purposes. The survey questions would be one part of the work; but scheduling and designing the focus group became a significant part of my learning. I coordinated schedules with peers and supervisors who would oversee the groups. Writing out the expectations for group moderators and participants gave me an opportunity to personally develop the structure of the focus group.

My fellow intern Brooke and I also worked through institutional data and compared performance between different institutions. I learned about higher education data and now see the purpose behind the numbers. I did this individually and shared my findings with Brooke, allowing me to expand my learning further than I could have imagined. Interpreting the data alongside Brooke broadened my perspective and strengthened my understanding of the research. This experience has taught me a lot about working in coordination with others. It will be useful in my chosen field of marketing and public relations. To get the opportunity to practice these skills with someone who has different strengths and skills than me has helped me sharpen and grow.

With less than a month to go, this time has flown by so fast. I have loved every bit of this internship. I take joy in the fact that I still have time to keep working toward the goal of this research project, and it has already been a success for me. This work has asked me to grow and learn. I have been asked to use my strengths, but not to solely rely on them. If you asked me what I knew about higher education before the summer, I could only tell you what I’ve experienced. Now, I know what I’ve experienced, understand the framework and processes behind the institution I attend. It’s interesting to me what can happen when you mix experience with information. It no longer becomes just about what happened but gives meaning to understanding how and why it happened.

– Alexander Bolton, Brevard College Class of 2027