For 17-year-old Joi Officer, the IMAF coordinator, this is exactly the case.

On June 11, a year’s worth of Officer’s planning will culminate into the free, day-long festival.

“This is a once in a lifetime experience,” Officer said. “I’ll always have time to relax, but I will never be 17 again and an intern at this festival. I will be able to look back and say I finished school and stuck with this and I was dedicated.”

The Independent Music and Arts Festival, which attracted more than 6,000 guests last year, is largely planned and overseen by a student intern.

Last year Joanna Taft, the executive director of the Harrison Center for the Arts, announced at Herron High School that IMAF was in need of a cultural entrepreneur intern to plan the festival.

Officer, a senior, was one of about 25 students to respond to the announcement.

That 25 was narrowed down to about five students, and Officer was the girl who stood out from the rest.

“When I realized how smart she was, I felt like if she had a year and an advisory board, she could really do a great job,” Taft said. “She said she was scared, but she wanted to do it.”

From a small festival that had 100 attendees, including dogs, when it began in 2001, the IMAF has grown to become a neighborhood tradition. The festival was created in an effort to honor local musicians and artists by featuring live music and original works.

In order to make the cultural event possible, Officer has spent this past year as an intern networking, booking bands and raising funds.

“She has raised money through Facebook. She’s sent e-mails to corporations,” Taft said. “She had to stick with it when it didn’t happen the first time. She had to be persistent.”

As a result of her work raising funds, Officer said she learned she likes to network.

“I’ve learned to take opportunities even though you may not know what to expect,” she said. “You never know who you’ll meet or what you’ll learn.”

Officer has had advisors to turn to whenever she has experienced difficulty in the planning of IMAF. She also attributes her success in planning to a 3-inch-thick binder that contains tips, tricks and recommendations passed down from previous IMAF interns.

After the festival, Officer will update the binder with her own experiences and use it to mentor next year’s intern.

When all is said and done, Officer hopes to get a full time job as a camp counselor at the YMCA and do a bit of traveling. She has been accepted into Spelman College in Atlanta and plans to major in mathematics.

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The Black Women in Sport Foundation (BWSF) recently announced additions to its Board of Directors and Advisory Board, and Kentucky State University’s Sports Information Director, Danielle Wright, was named to the Advisory Board. As a member of the BWSF Advisory Board, Wright will assist with coordinating various projects, including the Next Step Coaches Conference.

“I am truly honored to serve on the BWSF Advisory Board,” said Wright. “The Foundation has a rich history and to work with its distinguished Board members is a great privilege. I am excited to begin working with the Board in efforts to change lives and empower women in athletics.”

Wright, who enters her second year at Kentucky State University, serves as the sports information director and media contact for 13 NCAA Division II sports, as well as the webmaster for the athletics website, www.ksuthorobreds.com. As sports information director, she has successfully increased media attention and fan support through strategic communication, including the use of social media. In addition to her role as sports information director, Wright also serves as the advisor for KSU’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) and co-advisor for KSU’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).

“Danielle is the perfect addition to the BWSF Board and I’m so proud of her appointment,” stated Wright’s former supervisor and Director of Public Relations at the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA), Shera White. “She’s one of the most dynamic professionals in sports communications and will surely make an awesome impact.”

The Black Women in Sport Foundation was founded in 1992 by Tina Sloan Green, Alpha Alexander, Nikki Franke, and Linda Greene as a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing the involvement of Black women and girls in all aspects of sport, including athletics, coaching and administration. The Foundation is resolute in facilitating the involvement of women of color in every aspect of sport in the United States and around the world, through the “hands-on” development and management of grass roots level outreach programs.

“Danielle is very deserving of this appointment,” said Manager–Affiliate Associations for the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), Jamie Moore. “She will provide the advisory board with a wide range of knowledge and skills that will further advance African-American females in sports.”

Before coming to KSU, Wright was the Sports Information Director at Clark Atlanta University. She also worked as a Media Relations Assistant with the Mid-America Conference, where served as the media contact for men’s golf and wrestling, volleyball, and men’s and women’s indoor track and field, assisted with conference championships and was the media coordinator for the 2006 MAC Volleyball Championship. While at Indiana University, Wright was as a Graduate Assistant and Mentor Coordinator for Indiana University’s Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. Before being hired on the Athletics staff, Wright worked as a research assistant and associate instructor in the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation in the Department of Kinesiology. Wright also mentored six student-athletes in three different sports.

Wright has remained very active in professional development activities. She is a member of the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletic Administrators (NACWAA), the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) and the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD). In 2010, Wright was selected to join the nomination committee for the prestigious Peach of an Athlete award, which is given annually by the Boy Scouts of America and elected to serve as the Executive Secretary for the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Sports Information Directors Association (SIAC SIDA), a term beginning June 1, 2010 and ending June 1, 2012. Most recently, she graduated from the 2011 NCAA/NACWAA Institute for Administrative Advancement.

Wright also serves on the CoSIDA Goodwill and Programming Committees and is a member of CoSIDA’s Female Athletic Media Executives (FAME). She is an active member of the Black College Sports Information Directors of America (BCSIDA), where she and a colleague began an online forum as a platform for athletic communications personnel at minority institutions and minority athletic communications personnel at majority institutions to obtain support and brainstorm innovative ideas to enhance their programs.

“We are extremely proud of and excited for Ms. Wright,” said KSU Director of Athletics, Dr. Denisha L. Hendricks.  “This is a wonderful opportunity to grow and serve this profession.”

Originally from suburban Philadelphia, Pa., but raised in Hudson, Ohio, Wright received a Bachelor’s degree in Sport Management from Hampton University and a Master’s Degree in Athletic Administration with Social Science of Sport emphasis from Indiana University.  The daughter of Harry and Renee Wright, Jr., Wright has an older brother, Derrell Wright, who lives in Texas with his wife and their two young sons.