Dream Jobs and Where I've been

Somehow, as a 17 year old high school senior, I made a decision about what I wanted to do with my life. That decision has certainly been the right one so far. I consider myself lucky.  However, getting to do what you love everyday isn't the same kind of luck as hitting the lottery.

"Luck is when preparation meets opportunity." - Seneca, Roman Philosopher 5 BC - 65 AD

I saw this quote a while back in a great article by Mike Reinold about landing his dream job on his website.  If you are an ATC, PT or CSCS and don't know about Mike and his work, you are missing out.  Mike is the Head Athletic Trainer for the Red Sox and has done an extensive amount of work and research on the athlete's shoulder.  He's a pretty big inspiration for me and this tiny endeavor you are reading.  I see him as a pioneer in our field because he is using the technology we have today to educate ATCs and PTs and foster discussion on hot topics in our field.  Here is the link to that article: 5 Tips for Landing a Sports Medicine Job in Professional Sports 

I'd certainly echo everything he discusses in that article. As for me personally though, I'll share some extra info.

My #1 piece of advice that I could give based on my experience is to be willing to step out of your comfort zone. Personally, I've done this 3 times and it has worked out each time.  As a member of a graduating HS class of 175, I could have went to one of many colleges with a lot of classmates and friends.  However, I went to the small, yet highly respected, Wilmington College.  People still think I went to school in Delaware or North Carolina.  False.  Now, I know I'm not the first kid to go to college knowing nobody, but at the time it was a big step.  I can't speak highly enough about Wilmington.  I'm very proud to be an alumnus and would recommend it to anyone interested in Athletic Training.  It surrounds its students with great faculty and puts them in many career growing opportunities. It has great internships available including one with the Cincinnati Reds. Easily, this was their selling point to me and it was the highlight of my undergrad experience.

The next time was also a choice of college.  Graduation was fast approaching and I needed to make a decision about where to go next.  A very big part of me wanted to take one of a few opportunities to stay in Ohio. It was a complicated and difficult decision but in the end I decided to head south to Memphis, TN because of the chance to be the sole ATC with a Div. 1 baseball team. Once again, it worked out.

While at the University of Memphis, I saw Coach John Calipari give a speech.  He was a captivating and charismatic speaker.  It's not hard to see why he is a great recruiter in NCAA Basketball.  He was talking about his life and how it wasn't always as good as it was for him then (and now...) His main advice was when you feel stuck and aren't sure what to do, ask for help.  The timing of this was pretty good as I was nearing the point of having to do a summer internship as part of my Master's program and was having some difficulty.  At the time, my advisor and the other faculty were hoping to have me do an internship in the compliance department or somewhere else internally in the Memphis athletic department.  While those were more applicable to my degree (Sport & Leisure Commerce), I did not see it as a step toward my goal of being in pro baseball.  At that time, I reached out to one of our team physicians, Dr. Barry Phillips, who was also the team physician for the Cardinals' AAA team, the Memphis Redbirds.  Dr. Phillips got me in touch with their trainer, Chris Conroy.  I'm now happy to call Chris a good friend and a colleague with the Cardinals.

Another graduation was coming quickly and the fact that I didn't have anything in mind for what to do next was staring me in the face.  Enter the Cotuit Kettleers of the Cape Cod Baseball league.  I was offered the position and accepted.  I would definitely put leaving on a two-day drive with no idea about my housing situation outside of the comfort zone.  As a fan of baseball alone, it would have been worth it.  4,000 educated, opinionated and enthusiastic baseball fans is a sight to see.  As a bonus, it was good experience too.  I had the opportunity to have my first intern.  It is easy to see why so many people love being an AT instructor and working in an ATEP.

While there are a lot of important details and personally influential people left to tell, I don't mean for this to be my life story.  At the recommendation of a good friend, I just wanted to share a little about where I'm coming from.  I'll work on some applicable things to post tomorrow.

As always, comment or send me a message with ideas of things you'd like to see in the future.