For Oliver Glass, Emerson has felt like home in more ways than one. From starting as an undergraduate student-athlete to excelling as a cross country assistant coach and Sports Communications graduate student, Oliver’s connection to the Emerson community runs deep.
In this interview, Oliver reflects on his time as a cross country runner, his decision to pursue Emerson for graduate school, and how his experiences on and off the course have enhanced his experience at the College. He offers his insights into what makes the Sports Communication program unique, and how it’s preparing him for his career goals. Whether you’re a sports enthusiast, an aspiring graduate student, or curious about balancing sports and academics, Oliver’s story highlights the diversity of the Emerson experience.
Choosing Emerson
When asked what initially drew Oliver to Emerson for his undergraduate studies, he highlighted three main factors: location, the opportunity to be part of the new and growing sports communication program, and cross country. “I knew that I didn’t want to be too far from my home in Marblehead, MA, and despite growing up so close, I felt like I hadn’t fully experienced Boston as a city,” he added. In terms of cross country, Oliver weighed the idea of “walking on at different mid-major Division I programs, but decided that competing at a Division III level would give [him] a stronger balance of athletics and academics.”
In his undergraduate experience, Oliver accomplished his goals both in the classroom and on the cross country course, but he wasn’t ready to leave Emerson just yet. “I felt like grad school [would give] me the luxury to dig deeper into the web of sports as an industry as well as college athletics,” he says. And for Oliver, the transition into graduate school went smoothly. “Since I was sticking with sports communication as a focus, I had many of the same friends and professors,” adding, “[and] because my mother works as a graduate literature professor at Emerson, it was also financially feasible for me to go straight to grad school.” In addition, Oliver was able to compete in cross country for an additional year due to extended eligibility granted to athletes by the NCAA after the pandemic.
From Athlete to Assistant Coach
While adjusting to life as a Sports Communication grad student was manageable, Oliver was more challenged by the transition from student-athlete to assistant coach. Despite its challenges, Oliver’s draw to coaching after graduation was influenced by his own experience on Emerson’s cross country team. “Having spent five years as an athlete on the team, I had developed a strong appetite for competition. All thirty of the races that I competed in over my career brought something different to the table, and I really fell in love with the work that had to be put in to compete in a hyper-competitive region with schools like Tufts, MIT, Babson, etc. I had also developed such deep relationships with my teammates, the kind of relationships that I think are unique to sports.”
“Transitioning to coaching was challenging,” Oliver says. “Many of the athletes that I was now responsible for were my teammates and good friends the year prior. As a coach I think it is important to build immense trust and foster collaboration, but you can’t be a friend to your athletes, as harsh as that sounds… I wrestled with how to establish my voice as a different kind of leader than I was as a teammate and team captain.” Oliver adds that “between school, my job as a retail worker at Marathon Sports, and coaching, it has been a balancing act. Finding time for all three has been challenging, but it is also how I have found out how much coaching is a true passion.”
Oliver demonstrates that even with its obstacles, the experience has been incredibly rewarding, emphasizing that he has “never found a job that has made [him] want to work as hard as this one.” He says, “To see people that I care about grow as athletes and as people, and to be a part of that process with them is a beautiful thing. The team worked incredibly hard this year. Although there was certainly a fair share of ‘Coach Oliver’ humor at my expense, I felt they built a trust with me, and bought into everything we were doing.”
Connecting Through Cross Country
Another aspect of student-athlete life is being able to interact with the broader community in a multitude of ways. Oliver acknowledges that being a part of the cross country team, both as an athlete and coach, has allowed him to interact with sides of Emerson that he wouldn’t have met in the classroom. He goes on to say that Emerson’s School of Communication “has a lot of amazing and talented people in it, but it can sometimes feel a little disconnected from some of the more creative aspects of the school. Having so many teammates who were studying film, literature, and comedy broadened my perspectives, helped me make unlikely friends, and was a big part of my college experience.”
Similarly, when asked about how the intersection of athletics and academics enhances life at Emerson, Oliver asserts that the student-athlete experience is invaluable for young people. “Sports can create incredible bonds between people who come from such different walks of life. The cliches have been said a thousand times, but there is no doubt that working towards a collective goal that is physically and mentally challenging creates interpersonal skills in a real way. I have seen that even more from the outside perspective of a coach… Sports teach us to deal with [interpersonal] conflicts, and to have our teammates’ backs as long as they have ours.”
Oliver also connects athletics back to Emerson’s initiatives and the greater liberal arts mission. “Emerson preaches the value of a diversity of perspectives, and athletes and teams are as important a perspective as any other,” he states. Oliver believes that Emerson “presents an interesting opportunity to combine the arts and athletics in meaningful ways,” and that he hopes to see more interaction between these two disciplines in the future. He offers that “maybe we need our very own Troy Bolton to make this happen.”
Sports Communication Program
Emerson’s Sports Communication MA program, housed in the School of Communication, gives students the ability to experience several aspects of the sports communication industry, including speech writing about sports law and ethics and agentry analytics.
When asked what excited Oliver the most about his Sports Communication program, he said his answer changes each year. Above all, it’s helped him narrow down his career path. “For my first couple years of undergrad, I wanted to pursue a career in sports journalism. Emerson gave me an outlet to explore this path right away, covering games on campus and eventually interning for the Boston Globe. I soon found that although I had a lot of fun covering some really cool events and meeting some really cool people, I didn’t love the job enough to do it long-term. The great part about the Sports Communication program is that it’s flexible, and I was able to pivot.”
Now, Oliver knows that he wants to do more than just cover athletes in print, and seeks to help them in a deeper way. “Through my experiences in the Emerson athletics community, I realized that college athletics is where I want to be. Whether that is in an administrative role or a coaching role, I want to help students succeed.”
Oliver also credits five faculty and staff members within the Sports Communication program and beyond who have unequivocally enhanced his Emerson experience. He mentions Dr. Lauren Anderson, a sports communication professor, who he has taken classes with both as an undergraduate and graduate student. “She helped teach us not to be shy about the fact that Emerson has athletes, and pushed me to ask for more and attack projects that can have a real impact on our school.” Another communications professor, Mark Brodie, “taught [Oliver] the value of storytelling in sports, and is someone who [he] considers a mentor in [his] time at Emerson.”
Outside of academics, Stephanie Smyrl and Erin Brennen, the Athletic Director and Assistant Athletic Director, respectively, “do a standout job looking out for athletes and showing that they care about our programs. They have always taken time to meet with me when I ask, and have been a big part of me wanting to pursue a career in athletics,” Oliver says. Similarly, Brandon Fox, who has been the head coach of Emerson’s men’s and women’s cross country teams since Oliver was a first-year student, “has helped [Oliver] become a better athlete and a better leader.” He adds, “[Brandon] had the chance of hiring me as an assistant coach immediately after wrapping up my competing days. He has trusted me to take on significant responsibility as an assistant, and allowed me to grow in the role.”
The Emerson Impact and Future Advice
When thinking about his Emerson experience, Oliver is confident with the choices that have set him on his current path. “Emerson, from an athletic perspective, has unique benefits and challenges. Because we are a smaller program, I have gotten opportunities here that I wouldn’t have at a larger school. At the same time, having less resources will always be a challenge when trying to build a team or program that has been seen on all levels of the NCAA. However, facing these challenges will equip me for wherever I go next, no matter the size of the school.” Oliver continues by saying, “From a classroom perspective, I have had professors that have stressed the importance of written and oral communication, and have helped me build the soft skills that will make me more adaptable to learning on the job.”
In terms of advice for prospective graduate students considering Emerson, especially those interested in combining sports and academics, Oliver has much to offer.
“For those looking to study sports from a communication or management perspective, I would say to figure out what you want to prioritize in your graduate school experience. Emerson athletics are not yet as visible on campus as they are at most schools. If you are looking for a school that is already a finished project, you might find somewhere that is a better fit. However, if you are somebody who wants the opportunity to come in right away and make a difference in how sports interacts with an institution as a whole, I don’t believe there is a place with more opportunities than Emerson.” He adds, “We have athletic administration that listens to feedback from students, we have professors that will take the time to help you workshop a project or build a connection.”
Emerson is a place where students are encouraged to combine their natural talents and creativity with diverse experiences, and Oliver Glass exemplifies these ideals in more ways than one. He finishes by saying that at Emerson “you will find peers who want to invest their time in projects that mean something to our athletes and our teams. You also might learn some show tunes along the way.” And isn’t that all we could ask for?
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