Bryan Edwards is a Public Policy Studies major, Computer Science minor and MMS certificate student. After graduation, he will be a Rotational Analyst at the NFL through their Junior Rotational Program (JRP).
Bryan came to Duke excited to study the intersection of business and sports. But he didn’t have a clear grasp of what opportunities would be available to him.
“Coming into [Duke] I had a very narrow concept of the business of sport,” he said, thinking primarily of sports agents or sports psychology. But through various courses he has been exposed to the intricacies of consulting, technology, marketing and finance and has learned that how those roles exist in sports as well.
After taking an introductory policy class, he fell in love with public policy and decided on his major. He shared that his public policy courses really helped him process and understand the major changes within the sports industry that have occurred over the last two years.
“There’s been a huge shift across the industry in terms of finding ways that not only players can be advocates for social justice and other policy related issues but how teams and leaders are starting to recognize the influence that they can have,” Bryan said.
During his time at Duke, he had the opportunity to participate in many Duke extracurriculars, including being a co-founder of the Duke Sports Business Conference.
Together with former students Harrison Yue and Miles Feuer, he saw a need for students interested in sports business and wanted to provide resources to those students. The success of the conference has allowed them to bring in speakers who work in and study areas including sports marketing, sports finance, sports journalism, and social justice issues within sports. Bryan and students involved with the group have been able to tap into a key interest of many Duke students and offer them a new way to think about sports.
In addition to his major, Bryan has also benefited from the opportunities that the Computer Science minor and MMS certificate offered to him.
“The interdisciplinary nature of MMS is very true,” he shared. “You get a chance to take a wide range of classes."
The Psychology of Consumers and Financial Accounting are two of these courses he took in very different areas of study, but both helped him to understand the different business principles outside of core classes.
He also said that one of the unexpected benefits of studying remotely through much of the pandemic has been becoming more comfortable with the kinds of technologies that were already prevalent in the international business industries. He noted that prior to 2020, he would not have been as equipped with these technologies that will now surely dominate much of this workflow. Now after having worked through the pandemic while at Duke, he feels prepared for whatever comes his way in the workforce.
Bryan attributed his decision to come to Duke to two things: luck and his father. When deciding between universities, his dad—a Duke alum—encouraged him to keep considering Duke and shared with him his own experiences as a student.
“In all truth, I flipped a coin to figure out which college I was going to apply early decision and landed on Duke and the rest is history," Bryan said.
He hasn’t regretted that decision. Duke has provided him the opportunity to study in an environment that supplied what he cared about: a prestigious education, a small student body to foster relationships and connections, and of course, a school that loved sports as much as he did.
“It’s been a great experience. I absolutely love my time here and everything I have been able to get out of it."