Involvement

I had the great pleasure of assisting with the Texas State Licensure exam this past week, and, as I passed out flyers encouraging student to get involved, I began thinking back over my career involvement.

I was fortunate enough to come from a CAATE ATEP program with instructors who pushed involvement on us at both the state and local level.  Both my clinical coordinator and program director assisted with the state licensure and national certification exams when they could.  Both attended local and national meetings.  Both were adamant that we attend the meetings to network and learn.  Their attitude towards involvement was always positive, and encouraging.  They wanted us to develop professionally, and they knew this was one of the best ways to do so.  This attitude was passed down to us- so much so that we would spend countless hours fundraising to pay our way to San Diego, St. Louis, and even Baltimore.  We wanted to be there.  We wanted to network.  We wanted to learn.  We knew the importance of it all, and that has carried over into our careers now.  Once I was out of grad school, I wanted to get involved at the local level, which is one of the biggest reasons I decided to join the Young Professional’s Committee. 

Sitting in the lobby of Ben Hogan on Sunday, I began thinking about why other athletic training students chose the same path as I did, and why others chose not to even be members of NATA at all.  What is the deciding factor that tips them to contribute back?  What aspires them to lobby at Capitol Hill?  To join a committee?  To attend annual meetings?  

It seems as though it can be traced back to their CAATE program.  If their program directors and clinical coordinators encourage them to be involved and attend annual meetings, they will.  If their student organization can raise funds to help ease the cost of the trips, then more students will opt to go.  If the location and student program appear enticing, it peaks more student interest.  If they feel as though they can have a voice on the student senate, they will pursue it.  But some schools do not have an athletic training student organization, and other’s programs are poorly managed.  Some instructors feel as though their time and money can be better put to use at an educators conference, rather than NATA and SWATA.  This feeling may trickle down to the students, who in turn chose not to participate in the annual meetings.  Whatever the reasoning is, there is a population of athletic trainers who chose not to become involved in the profession outside of their daily jobs.  

The question is, how do those of us who are involved reach out to those who are not?

-Courtney Hobbs