Graduate Assistant Spotlight: Bailey Hawkins
5/3/2024 9:30:00 AM | General
Boise State Athletics is spotlighting the graduate assistants who work to help each department within athletics run smoothly while obtaining their master's degree. These features will tell the stories of graduate assistants while also giving information on what each department within Boise State Athletics does.
Bailey Hawkins is a second-year graduate assistant (GA) pursuing a degree in the Master of Athletic Leadership (MAL) program.
Currently, Hawkins is the assistant to the head coach GA for Boise State Football; however, she previously was a GA in the BroncoLife branch of the athletics department.
"I never thought I would end up working in football because I never initially had a strong interest in the sport," said Hawkins. "When I was working with BroncoLife, my supervisor at the time, Sara Whiles, suggested I get coffee with Brooke Pahukoa, the previous assistant to the head coach, since she had spent time working in football to see what it would be like. After I reached out and got to know Brooke, I took on some opportunities to work over in football during this past summer and really enjoyed it."
While the program was deciding on who would be the best fit as head coach Spencer Danielson's assistant, her name came up due to her being a familiar face from working with the football staff.
In her role, Hawkins is responsible for keeping coach Danielson on track, managing his schedule, organizing the slides for team meetings with any information coach Danielson needs, and attends team and operation meetings.
In addition, Hawkins helps the incoming freshmen with mapping out their schedules, is the direct communication line to the parents of the student-athletes, drafts weekly newsletters for the student-athletes' families and helps keep communication with the community and donors.
"Bringing on Bailey just felt like the right move because not only did she know how our program operated already, but she had created really good relationships with our student-athletes," said her supervisor, assistant athletic director, football chief of staff, Charlotte Siegel. "Having a friendly and familiar face is obviously ideal, but Bailey is also someone who brings great energy, enthusiasm and positivity to the table. Positivity Is something Coach D (Spencer Danielson) finds really important, and Bailey easily provides that."
Hawkins chose to pursue a degree in the MAL because she was drawn to the idea of a cohort and working through the journey of obtaining her master's degree with a set group of like-minded individuals.
"You're able to watch one another grow throughout your two years, supporting one another as we navigate balancing work, school and our personal lives," said Hawkins. "We've also been able to see first-hand the benefits that come from this program as some people leave to take on full-time positions or change career paths. I thought it would be a great way to make connections in the industry and so far has been."
Hawkins' family also has a strong history with athletics, where all three of her siblings and herself played at the collegiate level.
"I have two older sisters that both played sports and one of them chose to pursue a career in sports while the other didn't," said Hawkins. "I saw how my sister that didn't work in sports was impacted and missed being around a team and its morale. I'm really lucky I was able to learn from my sister and didn't have to go through something similar after I graduated. I don't know what I would do without athletics because of all the opportunities it has created for me and my family."
When she first applied, Hawkins was looking to work as a GA in human resources (HR). This was because she knew she wanted to work in athletics, but was not entirely sure of which area or department.
During her interview for the position in HR, her previous supervisor, associate athletic director of student-athlete development and BroncoLife, Sara Whiles, sat in and immediately felt that Hawkins would be a great fit for the GA role in BroncoLife.
"Bailey had mentioned some of her experiences as a student-athlete during her interview, bringing up a project she did on life after sports," said Whiles. "I just remember thinking that she was perfect for BroncoLife. We wanted to have her with us and I think her personality, drive and perspective were everything we were looking for when filling in our GA position."
In her role with BroncoLife, Hawkins coordinated events for student-athletes, helped out with the student-athlete advisory committee, helped out with the race and ethnicity DEIB committee, built relationships with student-athletes, led a program that allowed faculty to get an inside look of the athletics department and ran the social media platforms.
"Bailey is such an organized person and she's overall just a great person to be around," said beach volleyball senior, Sierra Land. "Any questions I had I always went to Bailey with because she always had the right answer for it. She was always an easy person to work with because of her positive attitude and fun energy."
Upon commencement on May 4, Hawkins will move from a GA to full-time role as the assistant to the head coach.
"I was lucky enough to step into a role didn't have a specific outline of what was needed from me, it was more of us working together and making life easier for one another," said Hawkins. "Boise State Athletics is a developmental place that allows you to grow in your role and I think it's great that we have so many GAs that have the opportunities to step up and fill big shoes. They give us grace when it comes to making mistakes that allow us to learn and grow since we are GAs. It's the perfect opportunity for someone who doesn't necessarily have an expertise in any given area of athletics but has the desire to grow and professionally develop."
Bailey Hawkins is a second-year graduate assistant (GA) pursuing a degree in the Master of Athletic Leadership (MAL) program.
Currently, Hawkins is the assistant to the head coach GA for Boise State Football; however, she previously was a GA in the BroncoLife branch of the athletics department.
"I never thought I would end up working in football because I never initially had a strong interest in the sport," said Hawkins. "When I was working with BroncoLife, my supervisor at the time, Sara Whiles, suggested I get coffee with Brooke Pahukoa, the previous assistant to the head coach, since she had spent time working in football to see what it would be like. After I reached out and got to know Brooke, I took on some opportunities to work over in football during this past summer and really enjoyed it."
While the program was deciding on who would be the best fit as head coach Spencer Danielson's assistant, her name came up due to her being a familiar face from working with the football staff.
In her role, Hawkins is responsible for keeping coach Danielson on track, managing his schedule, organizing the slides for team meetings with any information coach Danielson needs, and attends team and operation meetings.
In addition, Hawkins helps the incoming freshmen with mapping out their schedules, is the direct communication line to the parents of the student-athletes, drafts weekly newsletters for the student-athletes' families and helps keep communication with the community and donors.
"Bringing on Bailey just felt like the right move because not only did she know how our program operated already, but she had created really good relationships with our student-athletes," said her supervisor, assistant athletic director, football chief of staff, Charlotte Siegel. "Having a friendly and familiar face is obviously ideal, but Bailey is also someone who brings great energy, enthusiasm and positivity to the table. Positivity Is something Coach D (Spencer Danielson) finds really important, and Bailey easily provides that."
Hawkins chose to pursue a degree in the MAL because she was drawn to the idea of a cohort and working through the journey of obtaining her master's degree with a set group of like-minded individuals.
"You're able to watch one another grow throughout your two years, supporting one another as we navigate balancing work, school and our personal lives," said Hawkins. "We've also been able to see first-hand the benefits that come from this program as some people leave to take on full-time positions or change career paths. I thought it would be a great way to make connections in the industry and so far has been."
Hawkins' family also has a strong history with athletics, where all three of her siblings and herself played at the collegiate level.
"I have two older sisters that both played sports and one of them chose to pursue a career in sports while the other didn't," said Hawkins. "I saw how my sister that didn't work in sports was impacted and missed being around a team and its morale. I'm really lucky I was able to learn from my sister and didn't have to go through something similar after I graduated. I don't know what I would do without athletics because of all the opportunities it has created for me and my family."
When she first applied, Hawkins was looking to work as a GA in human resources (HR). This was because she knew she wanted to work in athletics, but was not entirely sure of which area or department.
During her interview for the position in HR, her previous supervisor, associate athletic director of student-athlete development and BroncoLife, Sara Whiles, sat in and immediately felt that Hawkins would be a great fit for the GA role in BroncoLife.
"Bailey had mentioned some of her experiences as a student-athlete during her interview, bringing up a project she did on life after sports," said Whiles. "I just remember thinking that she was perfect for BroncoLife. We wanted to have her with us and I think her personality, drive and perspective were everything we were looking for when filling in our GA position."
In her role with BroncoLife, Hawkins coordinated events for student-athletes, helped out with the student-athlete advisory committee, helped out with the race and ethnicity DEIB committee, built relationships with student-athletes, led a program that allowed faculty to get an inside look of the athletics department and ran the social media platforms.
"Bailey is such an organized person and she's overall just a great person to be around," said beach volleyball senior, Sierra Land. "Any questions I had I always went to Bailey with because she always had the right answer for it. She was always an easy person to work with because of her positive attitude and fun energy."
Upon commencement on May 4, Hawkins will move from a GA to full-time role as the assistant to the head coach.
"I was lucky enough to step into a role didn't have a specific outline of what was needed from me, it was more of us working together and making life easier for one another," said Hawkins. "Boise State Athletics is a developmental place that allows you to grow in your role and I think it's great that we have so many GAs that have the opportunities to step up and fill big shoes. They give us grace when it comes to making mistakes that allow us to learn and grow since we are GAs. It's the perfect opportunity for someone who doesn't necessarily have an expertise in any given area of athletics but has the desire to grow and professionally develop."
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