More Than a Job: How Recreational Sports Connects a Family
Four years ago, Nick Bohn needed something that would make a campus of 40,000 students feel smaller. He found his place at the Ramsey Student Center, where he would spend the next four years working and building community.
As a freshman, Bohn started as a facility attendant before being promoted to a leadership position as a program assistant, connecting professional staff and student employees. But his professional success and advancement are not his focus when discussing his time at Ramsey.
“Ramsey felt like a good way to meet people,” Bohn said. “It was a job at UGA, manageable hours, but also something more.”
That “something more” had already shaped his siblings’ lives — all four of them also worked at UGA Recreational Sports. One of his sisters met her husband at the Ramsey Student Center. Another sister met people she would call her closest friends even years beyond graduation. Working at the same place created a common bond between Bohn and his siblings.
“When you’ve all dealt with the unique situations that happen at this job, you just relate differently,” he said. “We don’t see each other all the time anymore, but when we do, Ramsey is one of the first things we talk about.”
Bohn says his favorite part of the job is training new student employees.
“I was in their shoes as a freshman,” he said. “You can build some really incredible relationships just by sparking a conversation and actually wanting to be someone’s friend.”
He already knew one recent trainee fairly well. Last semester, his younger brother joined the Ramsey staff, continuing the family tradition. Bohn’s advice to him and every new hire is to avoid treating it like a clock-in, clock-out job.
“Get to know the people you’re working with,” he said. “There are some really interesting, incredible people here. If you don’t take that first step, you might miss that.”
Bohn believes that genuine interest in others is something coworkers quickly notice. While he describes himself as loud and outgoing in the lobby, he also takes pride in listening. He asks about where people are from, what they care about, and where they hope to go.
“I think it’s fascinating meeting someone as a blank slate and learning who they are,” he said.
As graduation approaches, Bohn knows that life beyond UGA and the Ramsey Student Center will look different. He is excited for the future, knowing that his experiences as a student employee have prepared him well.
“At Ramsey, you put in a year of work and you can step into real responsibility,” he said. “I don’t think I’ll ever get that much responsibility that fast again.”
But he is most grateful for the relationships he built and the opportunity to show up for people. These are stories he and his siblings will be able to share for a very long time.
