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What do you wish you could change about your time as a young professional?
Mike Carroll-Head Athletic Trainer, Stephenville High School
Increasing the ability to network and have access to athletic trainers in my work setting both locally and across SWATA is what I like to go back and change. I can still remember after becoming a licensed athletic trainer in 1991 feeling completely and utterly isolated and alone. I am very appreciative for several athletic trainers that worked at local schools like Gordon Graham at Tomball HS, Arnold Thomas at Cy Fair HS, Calvin Salois at Katy Taylor HS, and Cathy Supak at Clear Brook HS. These people helped by giving me advice and direction on how I could best do my job and help keep my sanity at the same time. Had it not been for these individuals I would not have been as successful early in my career and would have no doubt struggled greatly.
Bucky Taylor-Athletic Trainer, Mesquite ISD
I would have liked to have had either training or mentoring on the issue of dealing with coaches. This was something that could have made my day to day dealings with either unknowledgeable or unreasonable coaches better. Mentoring probably would have been better. If you have someone that has crossed that bridge and can give you the benefit of their wisdom, it would have been useful to me. Also, help on life balancing between my home life and work life would have helped. It would also have been helpful to know more about how public schools operate. Learning the ins and outs of school operation is a difficult process for even the most knowledgeable.
Kathy Dieringer-Athletic Trainer/Co-Owner, D&D Sports Med
If I could change anything about my time as a young professional, it would be to choose my first job more carefully. As a young professional, I was employed by three different universities 15+ years after Title IX was passed. My graduate assistantship, though a great experience, was at a university where our football athletic training facility was still inside the men’s locker room. My first full time position was working at a major Division I university, where our athletic training programs remained separated according to gender. As a female staff member, I was not permitted to work with football or any of the major men’s sports. We treated the female athletes and the “minor” men’s sports. We had separate facilities, separate budgets, and very different salary structures. I soon left that position to become a head athletic trainer at a Division II university, where I remained for over 10 very rewarding years.
I was so excited to take my first job at this major university that I didn’t consider the nuances of the job, and regret that I didn’t make a more informed choice. There were universities where inclusion was common, and I would like to have experienced that as a young professional. While I don’t regret the career path I have chosen globally, I do wonder how my path might have been different had I had the opportunity to work in a more inclusive job setting as a young professional.
I was so excited to take my first job at this major university that I didn’t consider the nuances of the job, and regret that I didn’t make a more informed choice. There were universities where inclusion was common, and I would like to have experienced that as a young professional. While I don’t regret the career path I have chosen globally, I do wonder how my path might have been different had I had the opportunity to work in a more inclusive job setting as a young professional.
I could have used more confidence and the opportunity to interact with other certified athletic trainers on a daily basis to discuss injuries, rehabs and other athletic training issues.
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