Yearning to broaden her horizons after high school, small-town girl Shannon Petsch ’19 entered a big university far from her native Pennsylvania. She soon realized, however, that it wasn’t the right fit.
 
“I thought the last thing I wanted was another small community,” she recalls. “I originally attended a large school in Florida with 10,000-plus students. It was really hard to find a place to fit in, and it was really far from home.” 
 
She decided to tour schools in North Carolina. She was looking for an opportunity to learn while experiencing activities like collegiate sports, choir, and other campus clubs and activities. 
 
“From the moment I stepped on Guilford’s campus, I knew that this was where I belonged,” Shannon says. “It checked all of the boxes. In Guilford, I found an incredible community, growth, and family. I’m really grateful I found it.”

Campus Life

At Guilford, Shannon immersed herself in the college experience. The Business Administration major with a concentration in Sport Marketing and Human Resource Management quickly became involved in track and field, the College Choir, the Sports Information Department, the Office of Student Leadership and Engagement, and the Marketing Department. 
 
Shannon chose her Business degree because she felt it offered universal skills for any direction she’d want to take her career. 

Learn more about the Guilford College MBA.
 
“It was actually through OSLE that I found a passion for marketing. The department was hiring a marketing intern at the time — posting to social media, creating fliers — so I thought it’d be a great way to dive in and learn some new skills,” she says. “I quickly fell in love with the concept of marketing and changed my focus from accounting to marketing. From there, every decision I made was to help me find a full-time career in this field.”
 
Amid her many endeavors, Shannon also found time to serve as a residential adviser, community director, and campus tour guide.
 
“I loved talking about Guilford and encouraging more people to attend our school,” she says.

Experiential Learner

Shannon completed three internships before she landed her current professional role. One included acceptance into the highly competitive Disney College Program where she worked as a communications intern and took courses related to her major for college credit.
 
“This was an incredibly challenging application process,” she says. “I had the opportunity to be one of 12 communication interns during the summer 2019 season out of over 50,000 applications.”
 
She credits her acceptance to the help of her mentors: Terry Schwartz in the Sport Studies Department, and Dave Walters, the former Sports Information Director who encouraged her to gain experience as a communications intern for the Wyndham Championship. 

Learn more about Guilford's Master of International Sport Management.
 
“Terry truly cares about his students,” Shannon says. “I learned so much from him, not only academically but also about what path I wanted to go on and my future. He helped me prepare for some of my toughest internships and visited me during my Wyndham Championship internship. He always found time for any questions I had or to chat through any challenges I faced.”
 
After graduation, Shannon held an internship with the American Junior Golf Association during which she created multimedia content for the organization’s social media channels. Now, she is happily employed as an Internet Marketing Analyst at WebFX, a digital marketing agency.
 
“I have the opportunity to work directly with clients from a variety of industries, ranging from industrial B2B clients to clients in the health-care industry, and even tropical decor eCommerce companies,” Shannon says. “I will say that I could not have had the opportunity to work for WebFX had it not been for the skills and experience I acquired during my time at Guilford College.”
 
Any words of wisdom? “You don’t have to go to a big school to get the total college experience,” she says. “I found everything I was looking for during my time at Guilford.

Are you interested in a marketing career? Do you have a passion for business or the sport industry that you want to pursue in college? Schedule your personalized visit to Guilford to learn more about majors and minors that will help you reach those goals.