Lessons Learned: What being an athletic training student taught me

There are many things I have learned so far from being an athletic training (AT) student in the pre-professional phase, these are just a few I want to share. These are the top three lessons I learned, both the hard way and seeing others not succeed. Now I am not saying to not fail, because everyone fails at something, but rather take the failure with a grain of salt and learn from the mistake. If you grow as a person from the lessons learned from the mistakes, then nothing can stop your success, not matter the length it takes to get there.

1. I have learned to schedule my time better.

No I do not mean this lightly, I mean schedule everything because time is limited and precious to AT students. I used to not use a calendar, but that life is far behind me; now I schedule everything from appointments, meetings, to lunch and the few and far between such as "me-time". It may seem weird to block out and schedule this heavily but anyone looking to go into the medical profession knows that clinical hours (outside of class time) is like working a full time job. So if you have clinicals, a part-time job, extracurricular activities, and you are a student; a calendar and scheduling everything to the T, is not optional but essential.

2. Take initiative

Most medical fields have the underlying expectations that students are there because of their desire to learn and progress in the profession. Some things like getting a mentor, receiving advice, tips, and tricks to diagnostic tools or patient interactions, aren't usually given to you by the school or program. I personally have found it very beneficial to have mentors both as a upperclassman undergraduate student to even the certified preceptors. As I have gained a professional relationship with these individuals it has allowed me to ask the questions I would have not otherwise; questions like personal thoughts on pros/cons of the field, which professors to avoid if possible - which professors are hard, but you learn a lot, to what can I do to be a better clinician. Having these relationships, gives you the professional resources to succeed if you take the initiative to seek out and build them.

3. Actually go to class

I know this sounds dumb, but I am serious ... go to class. Although I know the days when class is the last thing on your mind or to-do list, but actually going to class is important. What are you paying college tuition for if you do not go to class? On a less financial note, if you start the slippery slope of skipping classes you are taking away from the possibility to better yourself as a student and person. Yes the music class I took this semester was terrible and boring, but having a background knowledge in many subjects makes you a well-rounded person. Yes that class was death, but it proved to me that if I put my mind to something, no matter how boring, I could make it through until the end. Do I need to mention grades and GPAs? Healthcare programs/schools do not mess around with students who do not take their education seriously, just do yourself a favor.