My Overall Experiance

What I learned about myself during my internship were my interests, strengths and weaknesses . Some of my weaknesses were as I have stated plenty of times was the lack of movement and hands on work i expected to do. I understood that because i was not certified i was not able to help the athletes as the athletic trainers did. Although I did understand the reason for the problem it made me think twice about going through with this career; I am looking for a job in were i know the business will not be slow at times or go down hill. I think that if i volunteer during the actual sports seasons then i would get a even better experience and that is exactly what i will do after being offered to be on the sidelines during a football game by my mentor and invited to volleyball games by the actual players. Looking at some of the negatives i also found some positive things throughout my internship including on how much sports do attract me ad how i know if i do go into this field i will never get tired of being around all the different sports. I believe my biggest strength is that i am an athlete now and so i know a lot about what an athlete goes through with pain, school, and trying to improve so i would have that advantage of connecting a little more with the athletes.

Reflection

     Completing my internship with the San Jose State University Sports Medicine Program was a great experience. Interacting with collage athletes and being able to go behind the scenes of collage sports was both interesting and educational. Contacting the sports medicine director Scott Shaw i decided to try and figure out how i would be able to go up to san jose every other day and complete my internship with them. I got the opportunity and decided to take it , it was a great chance to explore and view the actual work athletic trainers have and do. After having a great time during my internship i decided to make up my mind and decide if this was the career for me. I decided to major in Criminology and minor in sports medicine. I strongly recommend for anyone to complete their internship with the San Jose staff, because you can really learn a lot about the career from actually doing hands on work like I did.

Something New

An initiative i took to learn something new was to go explore the area a little more. When i had sometime to kill i went out and walked around to see things close up rather then just a glance. I was able to go into the new Spartan gym , the football field , soccer field , players wall of fame, the study room, and the laundry area . This did help me get distracted and help me be a little more active but also let me see the whole department. I did not what to lose any opportunities to see or learn new things about the area. Walking around made me by the end of my internship know that i did not miss a single thing about the department. 

The Material

Materials I had to observe and was not able to complete was a process used to help ones blood flow. It consisted of a type of cream, alcohol, a cotton ball, and a tub. A process in which the athletic trainer use on athletes to help relieve pain. The cotton ball is dipped into the alcohol and rubbed in the tub and fired  up; This process has to be fast so that when placed on the skin it is sucked in into the tub. The tub is moved around to wherever the pain is. Although this process looks like pain most athletes do not feel pain rather feel a sense of being relaxed. After being completed the athlete puts ice on were the pain was or still is.   

           

Company and Buisness Opportunities

   Some of the things I learned about the company and business opportunities for employees or future students at San Jose State required me to contact a counselor from the school and her name is Holly Brown. My mentor Scott Shaw recommended me to contact Holly because she was the one who dealt with these types of questions and would give me a more accurate answer then he could had.  After emailing Holly Brown a couple of times after understanding exactly what i was asking we both came to a better understanding of the question. I asked her what the requirements were needed to apply to become an athletic trainer at San Jose State and she responded " It requires a 4 year athletic training degree from an accredited program (we have this here at sjsu), then passing the national athletic training exam (call the Board of Certification exam) and most colleges also require a Masters Degree."  If I do decide to attend SJSU I would defently talk to Holly Brown about joining the accredited program and if one day plan on applying for an athletic trainer position i would complete my masters degree. 
                                

Special Instructions

  Special instructions I received  from another employee was to help assist an athlete with their usual therapy exercises.  I helped a volleyball player named Samantha, her exercises were to help her move her back a little easier. She was suppose to move only her arms while flexing her butt. Sam did this for a whole week until she would see or feel improvement. Although it does not look difficult for her it was because she had a lot of back pain. After doing this exercise for a week the athletic trainer was able to see improvement when Samantha would do a squat, and touching her toes.

Observation

            A personal Challenge I had during my internship was on how slow and calm things went for a while. Becoming a Athletic Trainer is a "job in where we hope things go by slow because a day of action means someone is really hurt and that's what we want the least " says my mentor Scott Shaw. I am use to moving around and not just observing. A personal highlight although has been the great opportunity i had to see exactly what it takes to become an athletic trainer. This internship only makes my decision of my major a little bit harder.