Katia Shammas ’27 is spending her summer in New Jersey helping fans enjoy their World Cup experience.
The FIFA World Cup being held in the U.S. this summer is a spectacle measured in goals, flags and television ratings. But every event of that size runs on something less glamorous: people in matching shirts who arrive early, stay late and make sure the experience feels effortless.
This summer, Guilford College student Katia Shammas ’27 is one of those people.
The Sport Management major is spending the tournament in New Jersey, working with Career Group Events, a company supporting FIFA World Cup operations. Her assignment is hospitality, which sounds simple until you consider the scale.
She welcomes fans, scans tickets, distributes wristbands and gift cards, answers questions and helps steer thousands of visitors toward food, entertainment and, eventually, the stadium gates. In other words, she is helping manage the controlled chaos that accompanies one of the largest sporting events on the planet.
For Katia, a native of Palestine who came to Guilford after her sisters Kristy ’19 and Kareen ’21 graduated from the College, the experience is equal parts education and audition.
The lessons have little to do with textbooks. They involve patience, communication and maintaining a smile when long lines form and expectations from demanding spectators run high.
The opportunity grew out of classes taught by Assistant Professor of Sport Management Michael White, who shared information about the internship with students in Sports Communication and Sports Marketing.
“Studying at Guilford opened this path for me,” Katia says. “I want to make the most of it.”