My hope for my PWP in the future is to have a place where future employers can come and learn about me. I want to be able to work in the summer at camps and the organization to know exactly who they are hiring and why they are hiring me. I am currently working on the about me portion of the website so I can bring this aspect of the site to them. I also would like to be able to post video about the changing aspects of Athletic Training to keep myself and other Athletic Trainers engaged in the new research being done in my field.
Technology is advancing very quickly and everybody is only a couple seconds away from getting answers. I personally did not even have a smart phone until I was a senior in college. Now when a student is doing their work and they have a question the student can get on their phone and answer the question promptly. It bothers me, sometimes how accessible technology is. Watching the next generation sit at the table when they are out to eat watching the iPad is different to me. My parents always told me to put the phone down when I was at the table or not to bring games to the table. I believe that this concept is gone for most families and a lot of our communication is done through our phones. Parents and kids alike are texting each other when they are only a room away.
I am beginning a new chapter in my education and starting a MA in Kinesiology program at Fresno Pacific University. I believe that learning online is the future of education, it is easier, now than ever to earn a degree online. It is also easy to get peer reviewed information online and keep up with the rapidly changing medical field. I like to keep up to date with athletic training information by using the NATA website and the resources that they provide on their website.
In the video created by Marcus Buckingham about strengths it is stated that only about 20% of people in the work force are in their "sweet spots" and doing the job that they are designed to do. I personally believe that I am currently doing the job that I love. The strongest aspect of my job, I believe is what occurs on the field, the first responder aspect. The reason that I love this aspect is that one can never get comfortable while on the sideline because it is unknown what will happen next. If an Athletic Trainer is to get too comfortable while on the sideline I believe that is when mistakes are made. The ATC will not pay attention to the game and will miss a vital part. Did one of the athletes get hit in the head? Does someone need you on the sideline? When you least expect it an ATC is needed.
The hardest part of my job for me is the paperwork. Having over 650 athletes and only 4 ATC's on staff it is often difficult to get all of the paperwork done in a timely manor. There is always an athlete that needs to be worked with or something that needs to be done around the clinic making the paperwork the toughest aspect of my job. My current employer, Stevens Institute of Technology, has introduced me to the world of Microblogging and the positive influence that it can have on the institution. The athletic department at Stevens has their own twitter handle where athletes and parents can follow the action that is going on both on and off the field. The athletic department will tweet out games or events that are going on that day. At Stevens most of the teams also have their own handle where they will tweet out events for their team or even updates during their games or match. I believe that this is a great way to keep students and parents involved in the sports that are happening around campus and a great way to remind everyone about events occurring throughout the community.
The first assignment in our Kin-710 class is to look at other PWP websites and determine aspects of the site that we would use and others that we might tweak or change. The person that I looked at was Michael Tillery, who happens to be an ATC as well. I believe that he did a great job representing himself with his PWP. The aspects of his website that I liked was the organization of his site. His site seemed to be right to the point and easy to read. I thought that reading his writing was easy and my eyes stayed to the text. That being said he could have had a little more information on what an ATC does and how they interact with athletes. His PWP focused mostly on him personally. I believe that I will try to keep in mind when working on my website the way that he kept his ideas and information organized.
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