Hi everyone,
My name is Mpai Tshidisegang Tshwaro Rampou, I am a 25 year old from Cape Town, South Africa. I am currently in my second year as an Au Pair living in Encinitas, California. I arrived to the United States of America in January of 2015 and one of my main goals in coming here is to pursue my Master’s degree in Sport Management. I would love an opportunity to assist and enable the disadvantaged youth in South Africa to excel in their sports, when I complete my academic career. South African sport is developing very rapidly, with large amounts of talented athletes who in most cases are deprived of the opportunity to achieve their fullest potential. I want to teach with my experience, and help them access these athletic opportunities to become successful.
Sports has been a very important part of my life for as long as I can remember. From primary school to university, I have always been involved, and participated in a team sport or worked in the field of sports. During my school days, I was part of the water polo team, where I obtained my provincial colors, and I was part of my high school’s netball team, where I was vice captain of the team during my final year of school. After high school I obtained my Bachelor of Arts degree in Sport Recreation and Exercise Science at the University of the Western Cape, where I was awarded the Golden Key Honorary Society Award in my first year as a student. This three-year program allowed me to explore various fields of sport such as Biokinetics, Sport Science and Sport Management. Throughout the three-year program, I coached netball and beginner swimming as well as worked at Virgin Active Gym in Cape Town, which influenced my decision to pursue the field of Sport Management.
Prior to my arrival in the United States, I had just completed my Bachelor of Arts Honors degree in Sport and Recreation Management. This is a postgraduate degree that focuses on the management of sport and recreation events, the development of sport programs and the administration of sport facilities. During my year as an Honors Sport Management student, I performed exceptionally well academically and, together with my lecture, my thesis titled Systematic Review on Therapeutic Recreation Programs for Youth at Risk was published in the African Journal for Physical, Health Education, Recreation and Dance. This has so far been one of my greatest academic accomplishments.
I have also been involved in a number of internship programs that were self-prescribed for personal career research purposes. One of the internships that I was fortunate to be part of was the Muizenberg Festival in 2014 in Cape Town, South Africa. It was the first year the festival was established and my role involved organizing and executing the Soccer Tournament and Retro Surfing Contest. I worked with a group of Dutch exchange students and, together with our various roles, we were able to engage and bring the community closer together. The sporting events that I organized raised money and provided exposure for the local disadvantaged sports organizations in the neighborhood of Muizenberg. The organizations that I specifically worked with was the South African Homeless Soccer World cup Team and Waves for Change. These organizations use sport to help focus on, alleviate and transform negative social issues faced by the youth in the community. Through the success of these events, I realized how much I wanted to gain more knowledge and educational background in the field of Sports Events Management and Operations in order to contribute to a positive change within my community
I would like to obtain my master’s degree in Sport Management at the University of San Francisco, so I can become successful in my career field and contribute to the economic growth of my country. The program offered at the University of San Francisco offers both academic foundation and practical experience through an extensive internship program in the field of Sport Management. These opportunities are currently not available in the field of Sport Management in South Africa. The master’s degree programs in South Africa for Sport Management, only involves two years of writing a thesis. They do not include any coursework or internships at this level and in my opinion that is not sufficient enough for me to prosper in my career field. The estimated costs for the first year of the program offered at the University of San Francisco is $43,850, which includes tuition and fees, living expenses and other expenses such as insurance and medical aid.
