RECognition: Sophia Hernandez, Competitive Sports
Recreation's monthly series to celebrate our staff
By Shawn Cyr
Assistant Marketing Director
Golf carts aren’t easy to push. Especially across the expansive and hilly UCSD campus.
Just ask Sophia Hernandez. She — unfortunately — would know.
“My most memorable experience with REC was during my first quarter working as a referee for outdoor soccer,” says Sophia, a Competitive Sports Supervisor. “One day, we had games at both NCR Fields and Warren Fields, so our supervisor had to drive us back and forth between them. On our way back to NCR, the cart died as we were going up the hill, and we had to push it back to charge it.
“It was a crazy and long day, but it helped me get closer to the other refs and supervisors.”
Sophia is a second-year international studies/international business major in Eleanor Roosevelt College who is already making a big impression at UC San Diego Recreation. For REC, her responsibilities include supervising Intramural Sports (such as soccer), and she also helps with the brackets for fraternity sports.
“Some of the games get intense, but it is part of the competitive nature, and it makes my job interesting,” Sophia says. “I also help manage some of the social media of Club Sports and monitor some club games when I am available. As a Comp. Sports Supervisor, we are in charge of many different sports and programs, so I am always around doing something.”
Already a sports marketing intern KSDT Radio, Sophia plans to pursue a career in sports business in the future.
“So I started working for REC because I thought it would be a great way to learn about some of the tasks that need to be done behind the scenes,” Sophia says.
She’s off to a great start, says Jacob Woodhead, competitive sports assistant director.
“Sophia is a first-year supervisor who has stepped up tremendously, taking on shifts when others can’t,” Woodhead says. “She also takes initiative to complete tasks that need to be done, and asks if there is anything she can be doing. We are excited to see how she continues to grow in this position but also as a future leader.
“On top of this, she has an infectious personality that brings joy to our program and everyone she interacts with.”
In her spare time, Sophia loves cooking and scenic walks by the beach to snap photos of the San Diego sunset. If she had one super power, it would be the ability to teleport.
“The amount of time I would save by not having to drive or walk would be life-changing,” she says, “Especially for early morning shifts or Friday night traffic.”
Or when your golf cart dies and you need push it back across campus.
