Maybe it was watching Grey’s Anatomy or maybe it was being a coach’s daughter for 15 years, in counting. Some will say it was because of my weight loss journey, others blame it on my brother and I’s accident-prone bodies. Whatever the life-defining moment was, I was thankful for it. I knew I wanted to take on a career in sports medicine because medicine always excited me, but I didn’t want to deal with common colds, the flu, hip replacements, or anything of that nature. I wanted to combine my love of sports and my fascination with the medical field. The passion for helping others was always in me, but I have connected with athletes growing up because of my involvement in sports. When it was time to apply to schools, I was set on going to an HBCU but I applied almost everywhere that had my projected field. I declared my major as Kinesiology, also known as Exercise Science. After receiving all my acceptance letters and eventually narrowing down the list, I decided to commit to The Illustrious Tennessee State University where I currently serve as a student athletic trainer for TSU Women’s Basketball Team. Throughout my journey so far, I have been fortunate enough to inspire those around me. I have been told by many of my peers that they see my process as a success story because of all that I endured getting here. Let me explain.
I’m sure we have all heard the phrase “it is not what you know, but who you know”, and up until my first day at TSU, I never truly understood the meaning of this. After a few unanswered phone calls to the athletic trainers during the first month of school, I knew it was time to choose a different route. One day, my friends and I were in the Gentry Center, our school’s arena, buying tickets for Southern Heritage Classic. The Gentry Center houses our men’s and women’s basketball teams, the Human Performance and Sports Science department (HPSS), and our athletic medical staff. Through a crack in one of the gym doors, I saw the men’s basketball team practicing and I thought to myself, “I should be at their practice, NOW.” Shortly after, I spotted a man that looked like a coach. After somehow building up the courage, I walked over to him. At the end of our brief conversation, he asked me if I had time to meet the head athletic trainer for the men’s basketball team. With no hesitation in my voice, I immediately said yes. I was told to see if I qualified for work-study so I could get paid for my time spent daily in the AT room. Unfortunately, I was told I was unqualified to apply for work-study, but I did not let that stand in my way. I offered to volunteer my time and I was told I would be given a schedule, but it never came. Refusing to give up, I reached out multiple times but never heard back.
In order to really set this story up, it is crucial for me to talk about a few of my classes. Though I was considered a freshman, I came in with college credits. Because of this, my schedule drastically changed. Instead of the regular general classes freshmen are usually given, I was placed in third-year classes oftentimes taken by juniors. One of which was Socio Implications of Sports Science and it just so happen that my professor was also the advisor for my major. In class, we had a project that challenged us to explain our ties to sports and determine why we want to be in this field. Weeks after I recited my paper, I told him I was having trouble becoming a student athletic trainer. He seemed very confused as to why I was not given a chance to even volunteer my time to learn more about my projected field. One of his suggestions was to speak with the director of the HPSS department, Human Performance and Sports Science, so I scheduled a meeting.
Simultaneously, I was taking a public speaking class and was given the assignment of writing an informative speech. I decided to write my speech on the effect sports have on child development. I had the pleasure of interviewing Coach Penny Collins, the head men’s basketball coach at TSU. During our interview, we bonded over our ties to the city of grit and grind, Memphis, Tennessee, and he asked me why I chose this topic. I explained to him everything from my background in sports to how I picked my major to why I wanted to pursue a career in the sports medicine field. And based on his interest in my answer, I slid in that I was trying to be a student athletic trainer. Right after the interview, I had a meeting with the Head of the HPSS department about why I was not given a position. Before I left, Coach Penny introduced me to his entire coaching staff who took down my number and sent me on my way to my second meeting of the day.
To my surprise, my professor from my Socio Implications class was in the office with the head of the department. I re-explained my struggles of trying to become a student AT and how I wasn’t hearing anything back. He then explained to me something that I would have never guessed. He mentioned that because they had multiple D1 transfers and a celebrity’s son on the team, a lot of young women seemed to come around for the wrong reasons. My professor stepped in and vouched for me because he heard my autobiography of the impact sports have on my life, as well as my knowledge about the game of basketball. The head of the department for HPSS then told me that if I had reliable people in higher-level positions vouching for me then I deserve a shot.
To make this moment crazier, I walked out of the meeting with a missed call from the Operations Manager and Assistant Coach for the men’s team, Coach Bone. He texted me and told me to give him a call back when I was done with the meeting. I rushed to a quiet room within our arena and called him back. I told Coach Bone what was said in the meeting with the HPSS director, and he told me that he could tell by the way I talked and how I carried myself that that was not the case. Even though he doesn’t have any pull over what the athletic trainers do, he offered me a position to be a student manager for the team instead. He mentioned that if I prove myself maybe the athletic trainers would come around and see my dedication. Even though the manager duties were not the exact job I wanted, I was willing to work my way up. Despite not being on work-study, I was at every practice, every home game, and I even came back on my winter break to spend a week with the team and put in extra work.
Over time, I was able to develop close relationships with the entire athletic training staff. I got the opportunity to shadow during evaluations, ask what concepts I should look up to study, and I continuously asked to get hands-on training. The athletic trainers opened up, taught me, and believed in me. Once the spring semester started, I decided to fully transfer over and become a student athletic trainer for the women’s basketball team here on campus. It was a hard decision because Coach Penny and his team gave me my start and believed in me when no one else did and for that, I am forever grateful. What drove me to stand up for myself was personally knowing that I was capable of more. My career goal is to be an athletic trainer for a collegiate or professional sports team, and I have to be willing to bet on myself and take that leap of faith and fully get into the exact field I wanted. I needed to share this story not to solely inform people about my journey, but to show other young ladies that if you don’t bet on yourself, no one will. This journey is now a part of my life story, but it has also prepared and equipped me with the skills I will need in this industry to combat similar trials and tribulations I may endure.