When starting a program, you may run into all sorts of problems. I did. I want to tell a story of perseverance to help you, the reader, laugh at a brick wall. Trust me, you will come to one.
In my first year of athletic training, I didn’t know anything. I could not tape an ankle; I could not even make a proper ice bag. I was a water girl for my first few months because I was not trusted with the players (probably because I was dating one of them). This made a lot of trouble for me because everyone thought I was only doing athletic training to be with him. This was not the story at all, but I will admit it certainly looked like it from an outside perspective.
My sophomore year was spent working my butt off to get any sort of credit, respect, or recognition. I wanted people to believe I actually wanted to become a student athletic trainer, and I wasn’t just doing it to “be close with the football boys”. Eventually the player and I broke up, yet everyone was shocked when I kept coming back.
I refused to stop going to practices and working games despite being negatively talked about. Yet, along the way, I gained a few supporters. For whatever reason, the coaches had taken a specific liking to me and thought it was almost funny to have me around. I went from not knowing how to do anything to working every day to learn how to preventative tape, diagnose concussions, learn anatomy, and make meal plans and rehab treatment plans. Say goodbye to “just” a water girl: I had leveled up. But that was not my destination.
I also had to deal with one of the hardest times of my life in my sophomore year. Take into consideration I am now technically the only girl on a football team. I had about 50 brothers who were enormous, yet often playing dumb for fun. While trying to navigate how to go about this new random family I had somehow acquired, I suffered a great loss: One of the players and his younger brother passed away the day of our game against our rival team.
This not only changed me, but the entire team. If I wasn’t close with the team before, being there for them that day with open arms secured me a spot in a family I would give the world for. I was grateful they were there for me as much as I tried – and still try – to be there for them. They helped me get through that loss and we still are all grieving, but as time passes, I push myself to do great things for them. Falcons Fly Forever.
My junior year was packed full of classes on top of working as a Student Athletic Trainer. However, things really started to work in my favor. I was now considered fully a part of the team and even worked a game with the team by myself (with permission). Of course, there were other Athletic Trainers from another team there and an Orthopedic Doctor, but I worked with my team. If you told ‘Freshman me’ that they let me get on the bus, she would have not believed you. It was a huge win for me after fighting for almost two years to even ride the bus with the team instead of having my dad drive me 1+ hours away to work every away game. Yet, there was still some trouble I ran into. I had to deal with my first large injury. One of our players had dislocated his shoulder during a game and the trainer I was working with was unable to get it back in. I took charge of the situation and sat with him keeping his shoulder stable, while the Trainer went to get more help. It was my first huge responsibility, and I am glad to say he was able to play his spring sport that year. This was a huge confidence boost for me, and I earned my pair of scissors to go on my fanny pack.
Senior year has been a lot of ups and downs. I am fully recognized as an important member of the football family, but I also work with all the sports I have done previously, but not as much. With all the stresses of senior year, sometimes I get overwhelmed. However, going to football practice or into the training room always makes me feel a sense of calm. I am referred to as a “Mother” and “Sister” of the football team (which is weird when I really think about it, but whatever). I have to navigate choosing a college to go to that will teach me more than I already know. Which is not to sound like I have an ego, but it’s completely true. If you have a lot of knowledge, you should not waste money relearning things you already know. So, it’s very important to me to find a school that will let me research and has a sports program that I might be able to work with. That is so much harder to find than anyone would think it could be. But my team is making me less stressed, and I realized how much of an outlet my job has become. People rely on me to tape them because they like the way it feels, I completely repainted, stocked, and deep cleaned the entire Training room, with some help from my family and some of the football team. Now people feel safe when they come in for pre-game taping or injuries. That has given me the biggest sense of pride along with the actual creation of this project.
I want people to hear the ups and downs of my project because I want people to know passions do not come easy. When you take a leap of faith to go for something that brings you pure joy, it may not always work out right away or even at all. I took a risk giving up most of my free time in high school just because I love the opportunity that I made for myself. It was not presented to me, I made it out of thin air. The message is to try new things, fail, try something new, maybe fail maybe do not. But opportunities can lead to undiscovered passions. You cannot wait for them to approach you; you have to make them with your bare hands. If you do, when you succeed everything will be worth it. I believe it is.