Interview with Kaitlyn Fay, Cornell University

Interviewer: Today we have Kaitlin Fay from Cornell University. This interview is also a testament to cold outreach, I stumbled on Kaitlyn’s profile on LinkedIn and immediately thought we’d have a great conversation. And for those who don’t know, my wife went to Cornell and we started dating in undergrad, so I’d visit all the time from about an hour and a half away in Rochester. I love the area, it’s a wonderful school, and Kaitlyn is actually on the Track team, which we will all want to hear more about. I also noticed you are in the Sports Business Society on campus, you’re involved with speech and debate, and you have several interests.

But first question for you, the same first question as every interview, it would be lovely to hear how you ended up at Cornell.  

Kaitlyn: Yeah so thank you so much for having me, like you said my name is Kaitlin Fay and I am a sophomore at Cornell University right now currently enrolled in the ILR School and if you guys don’t know what that stands for, it’s Industrial and Labor Relations which is kind of a blanket term for a lot of different focuses within ILR, but I chose Cornell because of its unique blend of academic rigor. They have a lot of athletic opportunities, and honestly, the sense of community was really great. I felt a ton of sense of belonging when I toured even before enrolling. The ILR school’s focus is on law, business, and policy, and that’s exactly what I was looking for. I was especially looking for the ability to be able to compete as a D1 athlete, that was a huge plus and I definitely wanted a place where I could push myself intellectually but also still pursue my athletic goals. So, I mean, this was the perfect place for me.

Interviewer: Yeah, that’s awesome. I think the Ivies are really attractive from a brand standpoint. You have the Division I athletics combined with world-renowned academics, which is just a rare thing to find and be accepted into. And so, again, like you’re saying, it’s going to challenge you in all of those areas.

Quick question. Do you apply directly to that school or did you or did you apply to Cornell in general when you applied?

Kaitlyn: Right. So, I think, you know, going through the recruitment process was extremely, anxiety provoking in the first place. So, I was trying to as any athlete is, to find some loopholes maybe that would make it a little bit easier for me to get in touch with admissions and all of that. The great thing about Cornell is we have individual schools within Cornell. So, you can actually apply to that specific school rather than apply to Cornell University as a whole. And that does give you a way better shot at getting into the university because you have a specific focus. So, for me, I definitely chose to just apply to ILR specifically. And then, also, I was going on official visits here as well. So, I was talking to the coach about the best options and their connections with ILR admissions. And so, kind of piecing all those things together, I really chose ILR to be the best option for me.

Interviewer: Yeah, that’s awesome. Was there input from the coaches for which school you had the best chance of getting into based on your skills and interests? Was that part of the conversation?

Kaitlyn: Yeah. So, I think nobody really knows specifically where they want to end up or what they want to major in. But I definitely had a broad idea. I was really interested in law, specifically, when I first came to Cornell. I honestly, I really like arguing, but I’d like to, you know, put a little academic touch on the argument and have some insight and a true conversation. But so, that was my main focus. And ILR is pretty much getting you prepared on the pre-law track. But it also does have a lot of marketing classes that you can take. And sports business-wise, it was great. So, it was kind of the school that I chose that if I didn’t want to follow through with the law aspect of it, I could go into a bunch of different things while still having that focus.

Interviewer: Yeah. So, it’s the skill set combined with several topics and then you have flexibility over time to narrow down even more. That’s smart. And what I’ve seen a lot just from studying so many industries and who they’re recruiting – it’s a broad skill set that will serve students and professionals best. But, yeah, kind of rewinding a little bit.

Where are you from and how did you get kind of selected or chosen track-wise or cross-country-wise to go to Cornell?

Kaitlyn: Yeah. So, I actually have lived in many, many different places. I kind of grew up as a soccer player, actually. And I went to IMG for a year and played soccer there. And then kind of fell out of love with the sport through injuries and what not. And then my sophomore year in high school, I ended up in Greenwich, Connecticut. And I started running track there. And as soon as I started running, I just kept on seeing my times drop. And then I all of a sudden was ranked number one in Connecticut in the 100m and the 200m. And then I held, like, four school records. And then I just really tried my best to reach out to as many people as I possibly could. And just getting my name out there, sending my mile split, my athletic profile to people. You really have to just be out in front of people in touch. Coaches love to see progress, especially in track and field. So, I kind of just went with it. And it worked out.

Interviewer: That’s awesome. Have I been saying that wrong? You don’t do cross-country, too, then, if you’re a sprinter, right?

Kaitlyn: Yeah, no. So, I’m just a sprinter. But we all practice together. But I do not run cross-country. I can’t do that.

Interviewer: Yeah, I wanted to make that distinction. I’m familiar enough with sports to know that they’re different sports, even though it’s all just running.

Kaitlyn: Oh, yeah.

Interviewer: From the outside perspective, it’s like, oh, it’s just running. But, again, being married to Taylor and her teaching me about running the mile as an athlete versus distance versus sprinting, it is completely different. So, I’ve learned a ton, which is so cool. And it makes a lot of sense. You mentioned how competitive you got in soccer. Of course, that’s sprinting versus distance. Well, it’s kind of both but I can see how it would translate to sprinting or mid-distance in track. But it sounds like it set you up pretty well, which I think is great. So, what I try to touch on is the transition to campus. So, I’ll ask about that next. Obviously, like you touched on, it’s really competitive in two key areas for you, athletically and academically. We’ll learn a little bit about the curriculum that you’ve been taking. And then I want to know about, like, professional opportunities and extracurriculars and kind of future goals. So, again, just to kind of get you thinking about the different things we’ll touch on. So, you choose Cornell. Cornell chooses you. Again, amazing school. Love the facilities. Love the community. Everything in between.

What’s it like transitioning to campus for the first time, moving away from home?

Kaitlyn: Yeah. So, that’s a great question. I think for me, I was always a pretty independent person. So, I think my transition away from home was pretty easy. I mean, I still talk to my parents every day. I can’t really go a day without calling my mom. Love it. But I think also the sense of belonging, being on a track. Being on a track team really, really made it easy because it gave me an instant community and a structure to start from. But beyond that, I pretty much just met people through my classes. There’s a ton of ILR orientation events. There are career fairs. And also, I’m just a very, very talkative person. So, I just walk up to anybody and say hello. But I think it’s really important to really make sure to say yes to invites and study sessions and random dining hall meetups because there are so many people to engage with and meet from all different parts of the world that you really just have to go out there and ask people. You can’t really just expect people to come up to you because that’s just how it works.

Interviewer: Yeah, for sure. I think it’s good insight. And another interesting point. So, people talk about location and student populations to the size of the college. The Ivies kind of get grouped in together. But just from my job and visiting all of them and, again, just knowing people that go to these schools, each of them are so different. So, is there a difference? The size? It’s what? Like 16,000 kids or something?

Kaitlyn: Yeah.  

Interviewer: So, is it easy to kind of branch out and also have the small town feel? Because Ithaca is really small, but the school is pretty big. So, what’s that living situation feel like?

Kaitlyn: Yeah, it’s really interesting because I did do a lot of interviews with a lot of different schools. And some Ivies were in there, too. And a lot of the reason why I chose Cornell, too, is because it’s so big. And I think I have a ton of friends that they call themselves townies and they’re from Ithaca, but they go to Cornell. And I think that’s kind of funny because it does give a sense of community, you know, separate from the huge Cornell population. Yeah. But, I mean I love a big school because you have so much space to meet people, to make mistakes, to grow, to learn. And, you know, not everybody is just honed in on what you’re doing. So, I think it really gives you a lot more independence, but it also gives you a lot more freedom to kind of meet whoever you want and to learn and to grow and to make new friends. And, you know, so I think that’s been really great for me and for a lot of my friends as well, being at such a big school.

Interviewer: Yeah, for sure. So I guess we’re kind of on like the community theme. And one thing that was important for me was when I would show up on a campus, I would be like, there is no way I’m going here. Or it’s like, OK, maybe I’ll apply.

So I want to get a sense of what Ithaca is like, what Cornell is like, what’s the best place on campus to hang out and what’s the best place off campus to hang out, in your opinion?

Kaitlyn: This is a hard question to answer. A lot of good ones. Yeah. I mean, it’s Ithaca is beautiful. It is so gorgeous. I think sometimes people get a little lost when it’s so cold and dark and bleak and, you know, because it’s just difficult to be outside when it’s like 10 degrees and there are blizzards. But I mean, during the spring and the fall it’s just so gorgeous to go outside and walk around. And if I had to choose a favorite place, I would probably say the art squad, mostly because it’s just surrounded by such beautiful architecture and you can sit in the grass and there’s just fresh air and you always see somebody that you know. That’s another thing about Cornell. It’s so big, but you always find somebody that you know wherever you are. So, yeah, I think I definitely say the art squad. It’s gorgeous.

Interviewer: That’s awesome. Do you have a favorite restaurant? I know the food’s amazing. Do you guys go anywhere a lot?

Kaitlyn: Yeah. There are so many. I mean, I think another thing about Ithaca is we have fantastic food. There are so many restaurants. I would say probably my favorite restaurant is Revelry Yards.

Interviewer: Okay, I don’t think I could say that. Cool name, hard to say.

Kaitlyn: I think a lot of people would say Thompson and Bleecker because they have great pasta and Italian food. But you can go anywhere, you go to college town, they have great food. You go to the commons. I mean, it’s in walking distance from campus, so it’s perfect.

Interviewer: I asked because I’m super biased to upstate NY. I think I mentioned, I went to college in Rochester and just upstate New York in general, and then the drive past the Finger Lakes region. So I was just going to highlight the food, the ice cream, there’s every kind of cuisine you can think of, which is just incredible. And then the best part and probably good for staying in track shape, is you have to walk all the way back up the hill unless you drive.

I think you gave a great sense of the community and now kind of shifting back into just the level of academics and the professionals you meet, are there any faculty or admins that you work really closely with outside of your team that are on campus?

Kaitlyn: Yeah. So, I think also connecting this back to athletics, I think obviously like I’m a student-athlete, but a lot of the support that I get is through the athletic department. There is a guy named Greg Shelley, one of the directors. He is a great person to talk to you when it comes to dealing with personal things or being a student and athlete. I think mental health is extremely important and it paves the way for doing well in school and on the track. So I I’ve been meeting with him a lot and he’s been helping me get connected to other advisors. But just staying in touch with my professors, I think has been my biggest help, because they’re the ones teaching me and grading my assignments. So I think just meeting with them directly has been a huge help for me.

Interviewer: That’s huge.

Is Greg part of like the academic support in athletics?

Kaitlyn: He kind of does everything. It’s kind of hard to just label him as one thing. I think honestly, I think he’s just the guy for athletics and support. He comes and speaks to our team every now and then. And I mean, yeah, you can ask him any questions and he’ll help you out.

Interviewer: I like how you said that, it’s kinda funny. They just plop them in front of teams. They’re like, here he is. You can use them for whatever. That’s a good. Yeah. We’ll highlight that in case he needs a recommendation! That’s perfect. Well, again, kind of on the academic side. So there’s strong support, high expectations academically, but strong support.

What classes have you taken so far?

Kaitlyn: Yeah. So, I think being an ILR, there’s a lot of classes that you have to take that are like required classes, especially in your first two years. So I’m hoping that I can take more interesting classes based on my interests in my junior and my senior year. Right now, one of my favorite classes that I’m taking, which is actually a required class, is labor and employment law, and it’s, it’s been incredibly eye-opening in terms of how laws shape the power dynamics between employees and employers. It just gave me a lot of insight into real-world issues and sparked a lot of my interests in pursuing law. And I really like the professor – they are making the material super accessible and making us think more critically. I find myself looking forward to the lectures, which I kind of haven’t in the past. In a lot of ways it’s really all about the professor for me, because I am a very visual learner, and I think also there are a lot of things in college that you have to learn that you don’t think are going to be applicable to your job when you leave.

Interviewer: That’s really solid insight. But you have to find interesting parts of it and the professors that you like. And it sounds like you’ve settled inn a bit because you’re kind of in that second year and you have your feet under you and you kind of know what to expect going back to campus.

Next question for you, and probably the most famous question and it’s super cliché, but as a student-athlete, how do you manage everything on your schedule?

Kaitlyn: I think knowing that you have to do what you have to do is the main thing. It’s really just a mindset and you have to push through all of your commitments. A lot of my teammates have kind of put me onto meditating in the morning and I know this it sounds crazy because obviously meditating isn’t going to get your work done for you but it helps you reset your mind and prepare for the day. I think before you even leave your room you need to give yourself time to mentally prepare for class and practice and everything. And I think having a clear mind allows you to do that. So I think finding balance in my personal time and my time away from work has made it a lot easier to manage it all and a lot of times there are set schedules to work around so it’s partially preparation and partially just showing up for what it scheduled for you or by you.

Interviewer: I think that’s great. So meditating doesn’t necessarily get the task done, but the whole mental performance side can be athletic or it can be professional or academic where if you take 5 or 10 minutes or however long you meditate, it can just get you ready to go do it all. I think it’s a great way to put it. And, in a lot of ways, like just from what I know, at the division one level, you don’t have a lot of choice. You practice almost every single day. You have training, you have lift, you have food, everything you have to pay attention to. And though a big commitment, the schedule takes the guesswork out of it, which is nice. But then at the same time, it’s like, you can’t really change it because you just have to show up every single day to train and work and that kind of stuff. So your version of time management is a combination of what you can do to prepare but also managing the difficulty of showing up for so many commitments. In case you couldn’t tell, I’m a little obsessed with athletics, which is why I talk about it so much, but I think it’s great. And it sounds like you’re doing great with it too.

Is there any connection with like upperclassmen? I know you touched on it a little bit, but do they pave the way a little bit? Do they recommend classes or give you different tips for kind of managing things?

Kaitlyn: Oh, yeah. On our team we are super connected. You know, we have a lot of people in the field with so many different talents and majors, we have pre-med majors, we have engineering, we have, you know, everything under the sun. So it’s really nice because obviously, you know, a pre-med major or an engineering major’s workload is going to be drastically different from maybe a pre-law student who just has to read, you know, 50 pages every night. And so I always get made fun of because I don’t have the hardest job. But we all bond over our work and collaborate on how to make the most of what we are studying when we have the same major.

Interviewer: Apparently that’s easy, reading 50 pages every night. That’s ridiculous! All good jokes though.

Kaitlyn: Right, right. But I think it’s nice because we kind of all, I think the comparing kind of helps us because we’re like, ‘Hey, like we have this,’ but you also have this. And so we’re, we’re kind of sleeping the same amount at night and all in it together. So it kind of gives us comfort. I think we all definitely try our best to support each other and give any advice that we possibly can.

Interviewer: Oh, that’s very cool. Last question on the curriculum side. So it sounds like the support is primarily athletic for like academic support. It starts with the athletic admins, and then you have the faculty and some other professionals across campus. Are there, any other centers or things you take advantage of for other resources just at Cornell in general?

Kaitlyn: Yeah. So, within ILR, I like to just stay within ILR because most of my classes are in ILR. We have the office of student services, which has about four advisors, they’re available every single day and through Canvas, you can find their office hour times, their drop-in hours, and you can literally meet with them at any time to discuss any problems you have. So that’s really, really helpful when planning your course load. So separate from, you know, your sport, you have to plan your schedule for next year, or if you want to take summer classes, they always help with that.And even just making my resume. It was really, really helpful to meet with some of them. So, there are definitely a lot of support systems outside of the athletic side of it. So, that’s really, really helpful, especially when it comes to my ILR course load.

Interviewer: I think it’s important that you mentioned it’s literally within your school because designing a resume can make or break an application, kind of like you’re saying, where they know exactly what your major should look like, or your workload should look like on your resume. So hopefully I’m assuming at Cornell they have that support in each college. Well, I think that’s great. We touched on classes and faculty and in all those areas touched on the community a ton. So we’ll shift kind of to the professional side. And again, you’ve mentioned being a lawyer, going to law school potentially. Where did that thought come from? Was it from like high school classes? Do you have family that has a history in that area?

Kaitlyn: Actually no. I’m just a dork when it comes to all things law; I have spent, even when I was super, super young, I was just watching a lot of depositions and court cases and trials and just reading things on my own time too, and trying to see if I could figure things out.I never solved any cases, so I wasn’t that good yet, but it just got me really, really interested in law in general. And I think, you know, there’s obviously different law; there’s criminal law, there’s contract mediation that you can get into, which was something that I was very interested in because of my sports background. I wanted to kind of go into like contract mediation, maybe being a sports agent. I think I’ve wanted to go into law originally to follow that path, but taking classes and being in clubs and different organizations, like the sports business club, has kind of turned my eyes to different sectors of law. I’ve found myself dipping into marketing and sports analytics and all of that stuff.

Interviewer: Oh, it’s so cool. Well, I’d love to hear more about the sports business society, I think it’s called. And then you’ve had how many marketing internships? I think one or two that I saw.

Kaitlyn: Yes, I’ve had about three three marketing internships. I’m still waiting to see what I can do this summer.

Interviewer: Okay. Yeah, yeah, how did that process work? Was it through Cornell that you found opportunities or was it like networking and you just applied and interviewed or how did that work?

Kaitlyn: So I think once I got to college and actually started looking for, you know, paying internships over the summer, I was kind of in shock at how competitive it is and how difficult it is to get something. I personally had a connection which made it a lot easier. And I think connections in college matter so much. And I think that’s why everyone should have a LinkedIn and constantly be connecting and constantly be reaching out. I think persistence also just gets it done. If you reach out to somebody and they know that you want to work for them and they know that you’re the one who wants to learn, I think that’s the biggest thing to get an internship. And also meeting with my advisors. I mean, they’re the ones that have those connections, especially through ILR, they know the types of jobs that you want to go into, so they know exactly what they want to see, like you mentioned in the resumes. They know exactly what employers want to see. So that has helped a lot.

Interviewer: Yeah. So kind of surrounding yourself with different versions of support and connecting campus to opportunity. Were all the internships in New York City or were they at different places?

Kaitlyn: So they were in Connecticut, actually, because I live in Connecticut now. So I wanted something that was close. So I was able to find stuff like that. And there were also some hybrid days, which made it a little bit easier, too.

Interviewer: Very nice. OK, cool. That’s awesome.

Yeah, I think internships are a big buzzword that students feel like they need to get that experience. And obviously, a paycheck is really nice, too. But yes, the same goes for student organizations, so back to the Sports Business Society. Is that like a student-run club or are there a lot of ties to admins, too?

Kaitlyn: Yeah, so it’s a student-run organization, but we kind of explore like the intersection of sports, business, marketing, analytics, and law. It takes place in ILR and it’s run by ILR students. And so, we just have speakers come in and they speak to us. We had J.C. Tretter come in a few weeks ago. He went to Cornell, but he was a football player, a professional football player. Now, we do case competitions. There’s a ton of networking opportunities. We do like mock contract negotiations, which I think is super interesting. Yeah. And it’s the front office simulations; like, it’s super cool.

Interviewer: Yeah. It sounds like it’s right up your wheelhouse. So is it like an investment club where you have different titles you can get as an undergrad? So, right now, you’re a member and then you get promoted to some title or something?

Kaitlyn: Yeah. So there are different positions. You run for those positions right now. I’m just a sitting member because I haven’t really found a lot of time to do exactly what I want to do. Hopefully next year. But yeah, there are definitely a bunch of different positions that you can focus on within this club, I think is really great. So, I’m probably going to try to run for I don’t know which position yet next year.

Interviewer: Yeah. OK, last question on that is how many students are part of it? Do you know?

Kaitlyn: Oh, gosh. I couldn’t even tell you because we have a lot of people that join in just for the meetings. I think it’s a pretty big group.I would say like 30 kids.

Interviewer: OK, cool. That’s good. Yeah. Depending on the school, I’m not going to call anybody out. I know there are some kids that just show up and they want to have it as like a credential. And then there’s others that they actually run for things, whatever level of commitment. I know it’s great to just meet more people. So I think it’s positive overall. But yeah, some groups can be 10 really close-knit and it can be like a really niche interest. And then you have groups that I’ve seen are up to like 500 students, which who knows how that functions. But I think it’s a great rundown.

And my last professional question. So you’re talking about your interest in law and business, and kind of the combination. Is there a year that you have to start paying attention to getting ready for law school? Does that start like junior or senior year? Have you paid attention to that at all?

Kaitlyn: So for me personally, I don’t think I’m going to go to law school directly out of college. So, I mean, for me right now, I’m kind of I’m taking as many classes as I possibly can. A lot of my professional work that I have done outside of college has been in marketing. I want to try to get into the sports marketing aspect of my work, but I don’t really know where that’s going to go yet. You have to declare your minor at the end of your junior year or in the middle of your junior year. So I think my minor is going to be in business and marketing. And then my major would be ILR.

Interviewer: So, yeah, so maybe you need Law School, maybe you don’t. And if you stay in sports and business could just be something you’d go back to a couple of years later. And so, yeah, again, flexibility and options. It’s setting you up with a skill set and a network, and it doesn’t just pigeonhole you in one direction, which I think is super important. So for the sake of time, let’s do one last question:

What’s your best tip for making the most of undergrad? And I know you have two more years, but maybe the first two years. How do you make the most of your first two years in undergrad?

Kaitlyn: Be present. Be in the moment. Enjoy the time while you have it. I mean, college goes by so fast. It’s very, very easy to get caught up in what’s next. So I think it’s very important to take time to enjoy the little moments, you know, walking to class, late night conversations with friends, even the chaos of finals week. I think those memories really shape you to become the best version of yourself and honestly, your biggest milestones in life. And I think you don’t really realize that as a sophomore until you’re like alone in your room at 1 a. m. And you’re really thinking like, oh, my gosh, the year’s almost over. But it’s really important to really take time and do everything you can. And meet as many people as you can, because this is the opportunity right now.

Interviewer: Great advice. I think it’s good for you to reflect on it now as a sophomore. You’re halfway through. Got amazing things ahead. And we’ll just pause there for questions. Just want to say a huge thank you again. We appreciate the time.

Kaitlyn: Thank you so much for having me.