Call it a forward pass of a different sort.

 

When Nic Griffin was an Applied Humanities major, he began putting his education into action as an intern for the Tucson Sugar Skulls. Now the football team’s Director of Ticket Operations, Griffin devotes part of his role to mentoring current students, including fellow Applied Humanities major Jacob Donfris.

 

“Seeing somebody sit in the same seat I sat in as an intern and being able to offer advice based on my experience has been awesome and hopefully helpful for them as well,” Griffin said. “Being able to share information with them based on my experience and being able to connect with them on that level has been important in setting our current interns up for success, in this role, and wherever they go next.”

 

Griffin originally discovered the Applied Humanities major when he was a sophomore. The powerful combination of humanities intelligences with professional skills, in his case business administration, was immediately appealing.

 

“Being able to take the Applied Humanities courses and mix in the Eller business classes helps you learn how to apply those humanistic skills in a business setting,” Griffin said.

 

For his required internship, Griffin originally wanted to work for his hometown Chicago Bears, but he ended up looking closer to campus and applying for the Sugar Skulls, an Indoor Football League club that debuted in 2019. Griffin’s first day as an intern was the home opener of the 2021 season, and he worked supporting the main office.

 

“Then my role expanded to game-day operations, wherever I was needed at the time and I jumped into those roles, which helped me stand out,” he said. “I can attribute my success as an intern to the transferable skills I learned in the Applied Humanities degree. With Jacob, I can see the similarities to me, a willingness to do whatever he can to help out and be productive.”

 

By going from student intern to working professional and alumni mentor, Griffin has opened a new path for current and future Applied Humanities students.

 

The Applied Humanities degree includes a required career-readiness sequence that builds students’ skills and confidence in navigating the job market. Beginning with a pre-internship course, students gain insight into career journeys, learn about their own transferable skills, and receive guidance on resumes, cover letters, elevator pitches and job interviews.

 

The career readiness sequence also includes an internship to help students gain workplace knowledge and diverse skill sets while completing 120 hours at a business, a nonprofit organization, or even through a self-designed entrepreneurial project. The culminating experience of the career-readiness sequence is the senior capstone, where students undertake a final project synthesizing the knowledge and skills they have acquired over the course of their college journey.

 

Since the BA in Applied Humanities launched in Fall 2018, 257 students have completed internships in a wide array of fields, including biotech, business consulting, cancer prevention, commercial real estate, fashion, healthcare, human resources, humanitarian aid, marketing, museum cataloging and project management. The program’s unique approach gives students a distinct advantage, said Stephanie Springer, Internship Director and Principal Lecturer.

 

“Our program prioritizes the unique strengths of each student and validates their lived experiences, equipping them with the skills and confidence to explore career opportunities across diverse fields. Because our students can articulate and leverage their transferable skill set, our internship program has an excellent reputation and continues to expand. Right now, we are the sixth largest credit-bearing internship program on campus,” Springer said. 

 

Like Griffin, Donfris wasn’t certain what he wanted to study in college, but something at the intersection of business and sports was appealing. He discovered the Applied Humanities major after talking to an advisor and found it to be the ideal fit.

 

“The one thing that jumps out right away is the internship,” he said. “Having that motivation that you have to get an internship to graduate is really important. It’s a huge building block on your resume. When I’m applying to jobs for after college, they know I have hands-on experience. That’s what’s helped me the most with this major and one of the things that separates it from others.”

 

Donfris and Griffin first connected through LinkedIn, which Applied Humanities majors are taught to navigate, after which they set up a time to talk. As it turned out, the Sugar Skulls were looking for interns.

 

Donfris started his internship in November and after some training, started working the phones. He’s since concentrated on individuals sales, pitching prospective fans on season tickets, or flex passes. But he’s also worked calling businesses, pitching sales for group seats, and on game-day operations and promotions, like Student Night and other themes for games.

 

“In this sales role, being able to communicate is huge and that’s what I’ve learned in Applied Humanities,” Donfris said. “In all my Applied Humanities classes, there’s always a group project and I can work on building those communication skills and being a leader, being personable. What I’ve learned from Applied Humanities is it’s great to step out of your comfort zone and be confident.”

 

Donfris has been interviewing for jobs as he approaches graduation, putting a lot of what he’s learned with the Sugar Skulls and Griffin into action.

 

“Nic has done a really great job of being a mentor, not only for me but all the other interns too. He’s taught us the ways he’s been successful in this role,” Donfris said. “We’ve had great  conversations about being in the same major. It’s the study of people and how people interact, and we’re applying it to the business realm.”

 

Despite embracing his role as a mentor, Griffin isn’t done being mentored himself. Through College of Humanities alumni events, he’s connected with Alan Stein, a consulting advisor for the Department of Public & Applied Humanities.

 

“I’m big on continuing to learn. Being in a leadership role here is a first for me,” Griffin said. “Alan and I go out to grab burgers and I’ve picked his brain about how to be a productive leader and being able to manage others in a way that’s effective.”

 

Stein, a former Chair of the UA Alumni Governing Board, is twice retired, first as a U.S. Army colonel and then as vice president of a logistics and management services firm.

 

“What I’ve been trying to convey to Nic is that responsible leadership recognizes you’re not just going to order people to do things. You build trust and try to make sure everyone understands the vision and the mission,” Stein said. “Nic is really receptive to the advice I’ve given and I love that he is mentoring students now. He has a lot of talent and certainly has the chops for what he’s doing.”