3/30/2019 0 Comments Reflective Journal #11One of the most difficult conversations that I have had to have is with my mother about a trip I was anticipating on taking. As a freshman in college, my mother’s opinion was hands down the opinion that I valued the most. During that first semester at college, I was presented with the opportunity to travel to Jordan in the Middle East with a Habitat for Humanity group on campus. At first, I thought the idea of going to the Middle East was a crazy idea.. “Who in the world would want to go THERE?”. However, as much as I hated the idea to begin with, the opportunity kept presenting itself, and soon I felt the call to go. I knew that if I was going to follow Jesus, I would have to do everything He told me to do, and that included going anywhere and everywhere if He asked. When I told my parents that I was pretty sure that I was going to go on this trip, it was the beginning of months of disagreeing, arguing, and tension within the household. I knew that my parents only wanted the best for me and felt obligated to protect me with everything that they had, but we continued to butt heads on this topic. At first, it made me angry that they were not willing to support me on something that I knew was a call from God. I couldn’t understand how they didn’t see the situation the same way that I did.
Soon, I let the anger go and tried explaining my situation in a different way. I stated that I could see how my mom was frustrated and scared about the trip, but I was not just going to have a fun trip. I calmly explained my heart behind why I was doing what I was doing, and we both allowed the other to talk without interrupting one another. Before long, my mom was ready to help my apply for a passport. We had finally found common ground. Shortly after that, I received word that the trip was cancelled. The point of the experience was not to go to Jordan, but to learn obedience to the Lord and to learn to communicate efficiently and respectfully. Most times when I enter into a disagreement with another person, I think back to the learning curve that was experienced concerning that trip. I am reminded that I will not always be right, and a true “right” may never be found, but there is always something to walk away with when both people feel heard and mutual respect is maintained. I am nowhere near perfect in my execution of this, but I know this is an area that I will be able to continue to grow.
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3/18/2019 0 Comments Reflective Journal #9This month’s slogan honestly made me laugh when I first heard it. “ATs are Health Care” seemed like a dumb slogan because, to me, it was already known. I thought to myself, “Of course we are health care, why would you just state the obvious?”. Now, after talking a lot in class about how our profession is perceived and reflecting on some of my own experiences, I understand that this simple slogan has the potential to be very powerful. I began looking back on my experiences of times when someone has asked me what my major was and then after I responded, they mention how they are looking to get into shape to see if I could make them a program. I cannot count the amount of times that someone has mistaken me for a personal trainer, not an ATHLETIC TRAINER. I even got to the point that I wouldn’t even take the time to correct them on their misunderstanding, and now I realize how wrong I am to not do that. It is my responsibility to educate those that I come in contact with on what my profession is and what I actually do because otherwise, we will forever be mistaken as personal trainers and waterboys.
I try my best to embody this slogan by taking pride in what I do. I work hard in my classes to ensure that my knowledge is up to par (hopefully more than minimally competent). I do not mind admitting when I do not know something, but I work hard to ensure that I am knowledgeable in the areas I am responsible for, especially when I know that I will have to communicate that to the athletes. I find peace in knowing that my patients are confident in my ability to treat them and know what is wrong with them. Additionally, I try my best to not highlight the areas of the profession that athletic trainers are stereotypically known for, like getting the water together and taping. Those are as much a part of the job as any other area, but that is not what athletic trainers should be known for. I try to be intentional about talking up our ability to diagnosis injuries, create rehabs, and provide emergency care for athletes because most people I speak to are most surprised to hear that those areas are a huge part of the profession. 3/10/2019 0 Comments Reflective Journal #8At first glance, I saw worth and value as the same thing. Many would equate something’s worth as equal to its value; however, I don’t think this is always true. I think worth better represents a monetary construct. I believe one’s worth as an athletic trainer is how much he or she believes they should get paid based on what they bring to the table. I believe value encompasses worth, but also accounts for more abstract concepts. For example, one’s expertise in ACL injuries, one’s ability to perform administration tasks, or other credentials outside the ATC could all contribute to one’s value. I think it becomes a sticky situation when we base all of our ideas of our own worth off someone else’s opinion. If I were to let the website that told me that my job was similar to that of a lifeguard (not saying they are not important), my opinion of my training and my profession would drop considerably. Unfortunately, I feel that in many positions, someone who doesn’t understand the VALUE of an athletic trainer is making the decision about the monetary WORTH of an athletic trainer. I think we often times cut ourselves short because other people have cut us short for so long because of a lack of knowledge about what we do and what we are capable of.
I feel that it is very important that we educate ourselves about our value by comparing what we can do to that of other professions, and by doing so, I feel like we will have a greater understanding of our worth. I know that doing the worth assessment in O&A last semester truly opened my eyes to how underpaid and under appreciated our profession is. By simply being there to provide an ankle tap, we are saving our institution a substantial amount of money. So, I believe the first step in bettering this profession is having a realistic understanding of our value and how much our services are worth. Secondly, I believe that we should work to educate employers on the benefit of what we do. If they realize how helpful we can be to their establishment, how much money we could end up saving them, and how much happier and safer their other employees are, then we have a real case to present them with. However, presenting this takes time and effort, but in the end if it gets me the job, I’m willing to do it. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
April 2019
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