Cameron Bottum says one of the first things he learned about being a Hawkeye is that Hawks help Hawks. And if you want to work in sports, that can be especially helpful.

“One thing that I heard a lot my freshman and sophomore year was how small and concentrated the sports world is,” Bottum says. “Networking is crucial. One connection in one place can lead you on a completely unrelated and weird path to get another connection somewhere else.”

Bottum, who grew up in Roscoe, Illinois, will graduate in May with a BS in sport and recreation management and a certificate in event management. As he prepares to take a position in sales for Musco Sports Lighting, Bottum says he appreciated the many field experiences that Iowa offered—and the number of Iowa alumni in the field that he was able to meet.

Bottum participated in multiple trips and practicums, but his favorite was with Team USA in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

“The opportunity to spend a week at the training facility for the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee was unparalleled by any other experience I’ve had,” Bottum says. “To connect and network with the representatives at the USOPC, walk around their campus and feel like I was either working there or an athlete when I got to use their gym, was just a really unique experience that I would’ve never in my life imagined I’d get.

“We got to swim in a pool that Michael Phelps practiced in. I mean, you can’t beat that.”

What is your earliest memory of campus?

My first semester here at Iowa, I got into Fans First with Anna Jensen, which is a field experience practicum. You end up logging about 100 field hours of experience with the athletic department—whether it’s football games, basketball games, you name it, you’re just kind of in the action. And I joined that class with a bunch of seniors, juniors, and grad students. It was a really cool experience to be able to right off the bat get to know the professors and the people within my major and gain a little bit of industry knowledge with that course.

What is your favorite memory from your time at Iowa?

My first year was Fans First and my second year was COVID, so I didn’t get to be a spectator at any Hawkeye sport events. So, when my junior year of football season came round, I told my fiancée, “I want to be front row every single Hawkeye game. I don’t care if we have to get there at 5 a.m. I just want to be in the front row.” So, we got the front row for every game.

When we had that final comeback in the last minutes of the Penn State game, we were the first ones in the huddle in the center of the field, tapping players’ helmets and everyone holding hands working our way off the field.

How do you think your class has demonstrated resiliency during your college years?

I think resiliency is the ability to look adversity in the face, whether it be COVID shutting the campus down or not getting an internship or job. I feel like my class is very good at looking those challenges in the face, looking at the next opportunity that comes up, and just putting our foot in the door wherever we can.

What does it mean to be a Hawkeye?

We always say, “If you can’t find your way home, follow the Gold Dome.”

You don’t know what it means to be a Hawkeye until you come to campus and experience life as a Hawkeye and experience Iowa Nice. I’ve also discovered how many people in my family or in my friend groups are Hawkeye fans that I didn’t even know about. My great grandpapa was a huge Hawkeye fan his whole life. They lived in Iowa. I didn’t even really know that until I got here and talked to my parents and talked to my grandparents. Hawks are everywhere.

You started the University of Iowa Disc Golf Club. How did that come about?

When I was 10 or 11 years old, they put in a disc golf course across from my house. My buddy and I found a disc and started throwing it around. Throughout high school, I got really into the sport—not at a highly competitive level, but I wanted to grow the sport and get discs in people’s hands who hadn’t necessarily gotten the opportunity to play.

My junior year after COVID, I looked to get into a sport club and realized there wasn’t a disc golf club. So, I got in contact with Matthew Schaffer, assistant director of sports programs, and said, “Hey, what’s the process of getting this thing started?” After a summer of constitution writing and filling out all the forms and submissions that we needed, we finally got on the ground. We were the D2 collegiate national champions last year and had an opportunity to go to D1 nationals this year.

Seeing a gap in something that interested me and having the opportunity to start it myself is something that I don’t hear from a lot from my friends who didn’t go to Iowa. Here, when you see an opportunity, you can grab on and run with it.