Okay, just to annoy you, once again I am a graduate of Bridgewater State with a bachelors in Physical Education. Before you can make your assumption (and we all know that assuming makes you an ass. Get it? Assume. Don't roll your eyes now, I'm chock full of these. Get used to it.) this does not make me a gym teacher! However, my concentration is in Exercise Physiology which basically says I am a glorified personal trainer full of Jeopardy-like trivia about the human body and the effects exercise has on it. With that in mind, you might also assume that I run marathons, lift weights and shop at Whole Foods for wheat grass. I am so very far from that. Instead, I am borderline lazy, eat whatever I want (in moderation, this is my valiant attempt) and while I'm not exactly thin, I'm not exactly fat either. Lets call me a healthy plump.
This leads me to my next point. I didn't go to school to pursue a degree in Glorified Personal Training. More than anything, I wanted (and still want) a degree in Athletic Training -- and no, assume-rs, not a coach. Athletic Trainers are like EMTs, but for athletes. They handle everything from sports injury, to personal training, to healthy eating managements. In essence, they are everything in the fitness and nutrition world... For athletes. Athletic Trainers are also so pretentious that we need to capitalize the name of our profession, we do not hyphenate with the letters AT and we sure as hell will not tolerate anyone calling us trainers. We are in a league of our own -- it's a private club and unless you know the password, you're not allowed.
I think this is all show for the low pay we actually get. It's like the Napoleon complex or the one I like to use, the big truck syndrome. Men who drive a BIG truck are making up for the lack in size of their sha-na-na-na if you know what I mean.
For serious, is this truck really THAT necessary??
So Athletic Trainers like to make themselves bigger than they really seem to make up for the small yearly salary they actually make -- despite being the Gods and Goddesses of college and professional sports.
It's obviously a love of the job. If you love your job, you'll never work a day in your life.
I could go on and on about Athletic Training and prove to you how much of a nerd I really am for the subject, but this will slowly manifest itself into my blogs anyway. However, before I can actually BE an Athletic Trainer, I need to go back to school and get my Masters degree. This is where my life gets interesting...
Currently I work for a local hospital here in Massachusetts as the resident slave to a group of people who could bring you back from the dead, but could not tie their own shoelaces to save their own lives. Thus, they rely on me to do their bidding and beckon to their every call. They like to disregard the fact that I spent five years of college and learned a thing or two about a thing or two. All they know is that I can order supplies, make copies and clean the department kitchen. Funny how when I interviewed for the job I was told that I'd acquire lots of experience by helping out with patients. Well, it's kind of hard to gain experience when the patients have no relevant injuries to what I'll be working with nor is it plausible to gain experience when I am constantly being called to do silly tasks.
At the same time, I need to begin shadowing hours with various Athletic Trainers so I can get some real on the field experience before actually applying to graduate school. Not only that, Bridgewater State was wonderful enough to change their curriculum for Athletic Training... Which translates to, o hai... those classes you don't have you now need... kthnx On top of all of this, I still need to take the GREs and I would like to take a prep course to ensure that I get a good score.
What's holding me back from achieving any of this? Time. My job does not allow any room for flexibility and I suffer from claustrophobia (I recently realized that it's not just with small spaces either -- it's with real life situations as well). Seven days are not enough. Twenty-four hours are not enough. I need more days and more hours. Now I'm not a religious person but, called God about this issue; he wasn't there; I left a message.
With time lurking in places I cannot find, graduate school and the GREs loom over me constantly plaguing my fatigued mind to do what is best for me. What is best for me? Finding a new job that will benefit my needs and what is in my best interest to fulfill college experiences and requirements. Very recently and very quickly I had to learn to think for myself and not for everyone else. I had to sit down and have three people tell me not to worry about them but to worry about yourself.
I did some worrying and a little bit of searching. At the top of the pile I found a job that would greatly benefit what I want to do in graduate school and for the rest of my working years. I contemplated sending in my resume for days on end. Finally, one morning I finally submitted my resume.
I have an interview on Wednesday. I think this is God answering my phone call...
