BC student winner of CosmoGirl 2024 internship

"In the year 2024, I truly envision myself pacing up and down the sidelines of an NBA arena, as the head coach of a National Basketball Association franchise. I will be one of several female coaches to revolutionize the representation of women in a male-dominated sports league."

Melissa Owumi, A&S '08, is not your ordinary young woman. Born in Nigeria, her love for basketball did not bloom until she and her parents moved to Massachusetts in 1992. Even though she was raised alongside four brothers, Owumi considers herself a "girlie-girl." Yet her love of basketball is what defines her.

Owumi is one of the 2007 recipients of the CosmoGirl! Project 2024 Internship program. She will be working for CosmoGirl and the NBA in a joint internship.

It is with this project that she will get to work with those she has aspired to become. The CosmoGirl Project 2024, created in 2005, is an internship for female college students that have a desire to break down all gender barriers in today's society by 2024. Out of all the applicants throughout the United States, only six college students are chosen. It is all-expenses paid and this year's roster of companies include: The NBA, Saatchi & Saatchi, Merrill Lynch, J Records, Office of New York State Attorney General, Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Office of New York Congresswoman Carolyn B. Mahoney.

Each student is given free housing in the New York University residence halls, airfare to and from their hometowns, free meals, and free transportation. Each student chosen must take classes at CosmoGirl, teaching them how to become women that will change today's gender specifics.

As player marketing intern, Owumi will be preparing for the NBA draft on June 28. Her responsibilities will include contacting agents and rookies, setting up appearances for them, and preparing them for the rookie transition program, which enables a smooth transition from playing college basketball to professional basketball. In these classes, the new players learn how to deal with all the new attention, how to speak better, who they should have around them, and how to discern the trustworthy people from those who only want to gain from their new fame. The rookies get to speak to all the NBA legends about the negative and positive things that come with going pro.

A communication major and women's studies minor, Owumi is ready to take the world by storm. Listening to her story, one may think that everything falls into place, as if by fate. Living in Massachusetts for most of her life, Owumi did not want to go to college near home - Boston College was the only school to which she applied to nearby.

Owumi came to visit, however, and after speaking with Donald Brown, director of AHANA Student Programs, she knew that this was where she belonged. Brown's presence was powerful; he made Owumi feel welcomed and accepted. After that, she decided to accept BC's offer to become an Eagle and it didn't hurt that she had opted for a Division I school, either.

Owumi, a self-proclaimed feminist, has embraced her studies here and can only speak praises about the women studies department. It is in these classes that she feels she will gain all the knowledge she will need to "set the world aflame." Being part of this department taught her how to thrive in a male-dominated world and how to deal with the difficulties that will arise because of her gender.

Not only does Owumi have the drive and determination to succeed, she is lucky enough to have a strong support system; a system that is made up of her mother, an activist who has worked with the town mayor to create after-school programs to address and break down class barriers and violence in Dorchester; her father, who works in More Hall; her brothers, who she calls her heroes; and her sister. Owumi attributes her success to their support.

Another important person, who has helped Owumi become the woman she is today, would be Brown, who, along with Sheilah Shaw Horton, associate director of AHANA Student Programs, has served as one of Owumi's mentors at BC. Brown encouraged Owumi's future dreams and even helped her obtain her first internship at ESPN. It was with his help and the Career Center that she was able to connect with a BC alum and eventually get a jump start on her career in the sports world.

"If I could advise the students at BC, I would tell them to use their resources here on campus. The Career Center is a place that I encourage people to go to. They helped me supe up my resume and also helped me tap into the extensive alumni networking system to get my internships." Owumi hopes her future work will inspire and push women and men to rethink the gender barriers and create a world of equality.