The presenters from MFA Incorporated had all given their talks about what they do and why Mizzou's student-athletes on the first-ever Mizzou Made Columbia Career Tour should consider working for their company. The student-athletes nodded and listened attentively throughout, but their attention peaked when a surprise guest and familiar face made an appearance at the front of the room to pitch them not just on MFA, but on the importance of the Mizzou Made Academics program and the needed focus on life after Mizzou Athletics.

"I was a part of this program a year ago," former Mizzou linebacker Joey Burkett said to the group. "Mizzou Made helped prepare me. Whether it was my resume or networking, it really helped me get started. I worked at Central Bank of Boone County for a while, but one day I got talking to the CEO of MFA, and because of my connections, I was working here in this internship program in no time."

Burkett then only requested one more thing before he stepped away to get back to work.

"Make the most of your resources," he said. "It is the best way to get started."

In the world of student-athletes, there is a delicate balance between being a student that is prepping for the future, and an athlete that has to be intensely focused on the present. And those that were present in the MFA conference room are currently trying to balance both to the best of their ability.

"You want to focus on your career but then you have to balance everything," redshirt-senior offensive lineman Samson Bailey said. "It is really easy to not be focused on this stuff when you have workouts every morning and practice every afternoon. It is easy to get caught up in your sport, and then a couple weeks go by and you get behind."

"You're so committed to your sport," redshirt-junior linebacker Jacob Trump said. "I know for me, I schedule my days around football. Football is the priority but then at the end of the day you still have homework to do and a resume to put together. That is why events like this are so helpful."

Even Adam Kiel, Director of Career Development for the Mizzou Made program and architect of the Career Tour, understands the challenges presented by the next step for student athletes. 

"My role is to help them focus more on their career, their future," Kiel said. "For some, it is easy to focus on the road ahead. Some, however, have difficulty dropping that student-athlete label.  We just make sure to sit down and talk to them. We need to be asking 'hey, two to four years after from now you will have the time of your life playing your sport, but what does your career look like?'"

The Columbia Career Tour, which featured stops at several Columbia companies including MFA, United Way and Central Bank of Boone County, helped bring the quickly approaching future more clearly into focus. It was designed to help the student athletes that signed on meet with executives, organizations, and professionals that are well connected to the Columbia Community. Regardless of their area of study, all that participated walked away with more information and a whole new network for Columbia after just one day spent focused on the future.

"Our main focus is exposing student athletes to different careers and to different opportunities," Kiel said. "Getting outside of that bubble of downtown and campus was important to us. It is just a great way for us to start establishing networks for these student athletes. It is nice when it pays off for kids like Joey. It helps prove our message and method is something that works."