University alumnus Michael North graduated in spring 2001 but has already landed a job with the New York Mets. He earned a business administration degree with an emphasis in sports marketing from the University.

North, who works in the Group and Community Sales Department for the Mets, was hired after attending a two-week sports marketing program in Portland.
“I went to Game Face academy in Portland where I got intense sports marketing training and got to interview with the New York Mets,” North said.
North began his work for the Mets in January 2002, where he sells tickets to groups ranging in size from 25 people to thousands of people. He also helps organize theme nights, including Korean, Italian and Greek nights.
“He’s a nice guy, which is the highest compliment I could give him,” Rick North, Michael North’s father, said.
Rick North — a project director for Physicians for Social Responsibility, a nonprofit organization in Oregon — said it’s been difficult living far away from his son.
“We don’t get to see him very much,” Rick North said. “We combine trips so if I go on a business trip to the East Coast, then I stop by and see him; my wife does that too.”
Michael North, who grew up in Baltimore, Md., before moving to Portland in ninth grade, was somewhat used to the city life, but he said that life in New York is very different from life in Eugene or Portland.
“New York is a much bigger city; there’s a lot going on here,” North said. “There’s an amazing night life, which is an amazing place to be when I’m young.”
North graduated from Tualatin High School and chose to attend the University because it was close to his home, yet far enough away.
While at the University, North participated in intramural soccer and worked at Pearl Street Ice Cream Parlour and the Outback Steakhouse in Eugene.
He also met Kam Shiroma in the residence halls and later moved into a house with him and other friends.
“We’re good buddies,” Shiroma said. “We’ve stayed in contact ever since college.”
Shiroma, who works for a social service company in New York, said he lived with North for about half a year when he first moved there.
“He’s a good guy,
an admirable guy; he’s very dependable and motivated,” Shiroma said. “He always knew he’d work in sports.”
“We knew he was looking for a job in sports marketing that can take you anywhere across the country,” Rick North said.
Michael North said his business classes prepared him for his future and he really enjoyed all of his sports marketing classes.
“I took a sponsorship class. It was enjoyable and pretty applicable for what I’m doing now,” North said.
North’s advice for current undergraduates is to be willing to get experience before jumping into whatever career they eventually want to have.
“In any field, you need experience before hopping into the career you really want,” North said.
After graduating from the University, North moved to Portland where he got experience that he says helped prepare him for his current career. “I worked for a direct sales company working door-to-door and business-to-business for six months, and I worked at the Marriott in Portland for six months,” North said.
He said his previous sales experience has really helped in his work for the Mets, as well as the phone experience he got while working at the Marriott hotel.
North says he hopes to stay in New York for the next few years.
“My future is pretty wide open,” North said. “I’d like to stay with the Mets or in the sports industry, but what I’ll be doing in a year I couldn’t tell you.”

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