蘑菇短视频

Eliana Cruz

Eliana Cruz calls herself the 鈥淪noop Dogg鈥� of her friend group, and not just because she shares the same swagger of the D-O-Double G.

Like the enterprising rapper and entrepreneur, Cruz is ambitious and got involved in several majors and activities during her time as a student at Western Carolina University.

Cruz started out as a biology student before entering her nursing arc and later settling down as an integrated health sciences and psychology double major. She was also president of the Latino Appreciation Student Organization and involved in a few different fraternities.

鈥淪ometimes I just bounce around into doing stuff, and I'm like, 鈥業 might as well try it,鈥欌�� Cruz said. 鈥淭he worst that can happen is I don't get it, so I've just done a lot of random things throughout.鈥�

Even after her time as a student, she didn鈥檛 quit exploring 鈥� and it landed her a job as an account executive with Charlotte FC. Having such a job with a Major League Soccer club wasn鈥檛 on Cruz鈥檚 mind when she graduated from 蘑菇短视频in 2024.

When she got back to Charlotte, she started looking for positions related to her majors. But she thought since she lived in a major city, she ought to do exactly what she did in Cullowhee: broaden her horizons.

Four rounds of interviews later, Cruz found herself working for one of North Carolina鈥檚 biggest professional sports teams.

Cruz鈥檚 role with Charlotte FC is mainly in sales, where she sells anything from a general admission ticket to a group event in a suite at Bank of America Stadium. However, an unspoken part of the job is community and relationship building.

Though she didn鈥檛 learn how to do what she does in a classroom, the opportunities she jumped on at 蘑菇短视频gave her the experience she needed to work in sales.

鈥淥bviously, I would say I got a great education, but I don't necessarily think that I had an idea going into college of 'This is what I'm going to do. This is why I'm going to do it, and this is where it's going to lead me.'

鈥淚t was kind of just like, I knew I wanted to go to college. I knew I wanted to learn as much as possible.鈥�

One year into working for Charlotte FC, Cruz says she鈥檚 still learning new things daily with the biggest things she鈥檚 picked up being a strong work ethic 鈥� and a love for what she does.

Cruz said she took it all in when worldwide soccer phenom Lionel Messi and Inter Miami came to Charlotte last September. The lower bowl of the stadium was packed, Charlotte FC cruised to a 3-0 win and seeing the joy on people鈥檚 faces is something Cruz will never forget.

鈥淚 think actual gameday, nothing touches that,鈥� Cruz said. 鈥淭he experience of, not only are people actually happy to see you and happy to talk to you because you're providing them with tickets, but just the energy in the building.

鈥淲hen you walk in a couple hours early, no one's there yet, people are just setting up the gates, but you know what's about to happen in the next couple of hours. I feel like that's something that's really unmatched.鈥� 

That鈥檚 been her 鈥渨hy,鈥� even when she was at WCU: community, and during her time in Cullowhee, her love for it and ability to build it grew exponentially. Cruz鈥檚 story goes to show that learning doesn鈥檛 only happen inside a classroom.

It can happen anywhere.

鈥淲estern definitely took me in what I already had inside and just made me so much better at community building and relationship building,鈥� Cruz said. 鈥淚 think that all in all, that's definitely what sports is: being able to build community and being able to build relationships and emotion.鈥�