Q: What brought you to U-M? 
A: My brother went here, and he's two years older. When I was applying to colleges, I wasn’t really interested in the big schools; I was much more of a small school type of girl. So I honestly didn't consider Michigan at all. Then when we went to drop him off to move him in, and I was like, ‘OK, this campus is kind of cool. I like it.’

And then my brother told me that U-M had a really good kinesiology program. I knew I was interested in athletic training, so I eventually applied to the school my senior year. I was deferred and then waitlisted so I figured that Michigan wasn't going to happen. 

And then they sent out this acceptance to this new winter-start program: MAES [Movement & Applied Exercise Science, which allows a select number of students to start at Kines in the winter semester and take extra courses in the spring and summer to graduate at the same time as the rest of their class]. I had some opportunities at other schools, but ultimately I decided that the education and the opportunities down the line to build connections were probably better here.

Q: What led you to be interested in athletic training?
A: I played a lot of ice hockey growing up. It’s obviously a contact sport, so people get hurt a lot. And I would always want to be on the ice with the coach checking on the kid, which was not great because l didn't know what I was doing. And then in high school, as I was training more and more, I started having some knee problems. We had an athletic trainer at our school, so I'd see him a lot. He let me shadow him a couple times for some games. I was like, ‘All right, this is kind of sick.’

Q: Where are you from originally?
A: South Burlington, Vermont.

Q: Oh, very cool. That’s pretty far away. Was your MAES cohort helpful in transitioning to college here? 
A: Freshman year, the first semester, I made a lot of friends outside my cohort in my classes. You might have some similar classes with people in your MAES cohort, but you're not with them all the time.

That kicks in in the summer. There were only 17 or 18 of us; it was a really cute little group, and I enjoyed it. We were the guinea pigs because we were the first MAES cohort, so I think some of what current MAES kids get was because of the feedback we provided.

The best part of the summer, though, was Dr. [Pete] Bodary’s class, where we went to Athletics facilities a lot. I met an athletic trainer, Claire Coates [a U-M AT alum from the class of 2009], who eventually let me shadow her come sophomore year, and then I worked a Big Ten tournament, and that eventually kick-started me into the athletic training world here at Michigan, where I now work or intern or volunteer frequently. So I think without the MAES cohort, I wouldn't have been able to get the opportunities I now have, which I'm pretty grateful for.

Q: Do you have a specific sport in mind that you’d want to eventually work with as a professional athletic trainer?
A: I try to keep my options open, but I’ve really loved field hockey.  Basketball's been great. Gymnastics has been great. It's more of what sport I don't wanna work, and right now, that’s tennis. I worked tennis for one tournament, and I really did not enjoy it. It's just too quiet — I need to be able to cheer for the athletes!

Down the line, though, I want to do something with the Olympics. I love the Olympics.

Q: Why do you love the Olympics? 
A: I've always thought they were cool. When I was younger, there was this college kid — her name was Amanda Pelkey. She played for UVM [University of Vermont.] And she coached our spring hockey league. In 2018, she was on the Olympic team. That was so cool — the idea that someone who coached me is going to the Olympics. And then 2018 was the first time in like 20 years where USA won the gold over Canada, which was amazing and inspiring for me in so many ways.

But I love the Olympics anyway. I like what they symbolize. I like that it's all these countries coming together just to do sports. And for women's hockey, that is the highest level of competition so to be a staff member of that team would be like you're cream of the crop.

Q: As somebody who already knows that you want to be an athletic trainer and who’s already working or volunteering at events in that space, what is it like to know you’ll have to get a master’s degree on top of that? [All athletic training programs in the United States were mandated to become master’s programs a few years ago.]
A: I knew coming into college that I would need a master's degree. I was more surprised that I was able to get experience as an undergrad through Michigan. So for me, it's more I'm grateful that I'll be prepared much more than an average undergrad that isn’t in a 3 + 2 program [a program that offers a combined undergraduate degree in exercise science and a master’s degree in athletic training over five years.]

Q: What are the various shadowing or internship opportunities you’ve had at U-M so far?
A: First one, I shadowed field hockey. And then I volunteered for field hockey at the Big 10 Tournament. That was my sophomore year, first semester. Second semester, I interned under Ms. Chris with women's basketball. So that was a full internship with hands-on experience. First semester this year, my junior year, I was with Ms. Chris again. Those experiences were phenomenal. I was court-side for games, a hands-on opportunity every single day. Forever grateful for Ms. Chris.

And then this semester, I've been floating a little bit. I’ve learned under Kim [Beckerman] with Club Sports a couple times. Love her, she’s incredibly knowledgeable and a great teacher. And recently, I’ve been with gymnastics under Lisa Hass and Tasuku [Kurane]; Tasuku is the men’s gym AT, and Lisa was the women’s gym AT for 30 years and recently retired. Both Tasuku and Lisa are amazing and I’m grateful that they’ve let me come in to work in their events.

Q: Wow, that is a lot. You’re doing some kind of AT experience every single semester?
A: I'm trying to. The way I learn is to be in the environment and learn off other people. And if you get out of that mindset, you get rusty.

Q: For sure. How have your applied exercise science classes contributed to this hands-on experience that you're getting? Do you feel like this major is conducive to preparing you for an AT master's program?
A: That's a good question. I believe so. The strength and conditioning course, which was an elective, was really great. Exercise physiology and the lab were great. Motor control has been great. The emergency care course was really good because you get your CPR certification. And then the musculoskeletal anatomy class and lab, just knowing all the muscles was really helpful. So it’s been a good foundation for sure.

Q: Pivoting a little bit, I've heard you're also an artist. Can you tell me about what you create?
A: I predominantly work in digital illustration. I have an iPad with a Procreate app that allows you to draw right on it.

Q: Are there certain themes or topics you often turn to?
A: Most of my stuff is animals; a lot of it is children’s book illustration style. Like if you’ve ever seen the children’s show Bluey.

Q: How’d you start creating art?
A: I've always really liked to draw. What kicked off me taking it seriously was at the end of fifth grade, there was a T-shirt competition. My school, shout out Rick Marcotte Central School, would take their fifth graders to Smugglers Notch [a famous mountain pass in Vermont.] All of us would wear the same shirt, and they let the kids submit designs for a competition. Your peers would vote. Eventually, I won, and everyone got to wear my design.

Then in middle school, I joined Olympics of the Visual Arts, where groups of kids would create one art piece over the course of a couple months and then present it in a state-wide competition. In high school, I was considering applying to a lot of illustration programs for college. But I realized I like being on my feet more. I like helping people.

Q: Do you find that these worlds intersect for you ever or no? Like from a creative or a sports perspective, does producing art or working in athletic training help you in the other space?
A: I was on the women's hockey team here at Michigan for two years, and I’ve played hockey my whole life. Any athlete will tell you that visualizing before games is really important. Through me developing a bit of art skill, I got really good at seeing things in my head. Which helps me draw and also helped me visualize things when I was on the ice.

Q: Wow, that is so cool. Can you tell me about what kinesiology, the school and the environment has been like for you? Have you felt like in general it's been conducive to that type of learning? 
A: I've liked all my Kines courses and just being in Kines in general. I’m a Student Ambassador, and Kines is small enough that when I do things for that, I know all the other kids. And the class sizes are small enough that you get to know your professors.

Q: Why did you want to be a student ambassador?
A: I was a tour guide in high school, so I knew I liked the work and wanted to continue doing it.

I like talking to prospective students a lot. I try to be honest with them because college is a really big commitment. A lot of times when I was applying to schools, people would tell me, ‘You'll end up where you're meant to end up,’ and I really hated that. I really hated someone insinuating that it was out of my hands, but fate will decide. I'd rather personally be able to decide. So I try to talk evenly with kids so they're able to make the best decision for them. I'll share everything I love about the school, but if there's something they're best suited for at another school, I'll be like, ‘Don't hesitate to take that other opportunity.’

Q: You seem very focused and like you've had this plan from the beginning and just keep building on it step by step. Do you feel like that’s an accurate way to describe your approach?
A: I think so, yeah. My mom would say a lot, ‘Go see other things because you don't want to be laser focused on one thing when there could be something else that's better suited to you.’ So in addition to shadowing in the athletic training space, I also shadowed and worked in a physical therapy space back home. Those were the two [fields] I was between, and I decided I liked athletic training a little bit more. Now I feel a lot more confident in my decision.

Q: What is it about athletic training that won out for you over PT?
A: I really like emergency medicine. In PT, you don't see a lot of that. I like the assessment and diagnostic piece and figuring out what's going on with someone, like solving a puzzle. In physical therapy, they come to you with a doctor's note most of the time telling you what the problem is, and it's your job to fix it. So I like the preventative care, the emergency response, and then the diagnostic piece.

Q: What do you think makes a good athletic trainer? Like what qualities or personality traits? 
A: Oh boy, there's so many. I think you have to be willing to learn continuously. You have to be willing to be flexible. Ms. Chris liked to say a lot of patient-centered care and to make things make sense, finding the logic in everything you're doing. You're treating a person. And if your person isn't responding to the treatment or there's a better treatment for that person, even if it’s slightly less efficient, maybe that's the route to go.

Q: What to you would be a marker of success, an indicator that you’re ready to operate at the highest level, say, at the Olympics?
A: I think a lot of athletic training is constantly learning. A lot of the fellows here that I've talked to were saying, ‘Hey, I'm accredited, but I felt like I still wanted to learn more.’

The way certain athletic trainers here work is if you have a patient with a problem and you don't know how to approach it, you call your friends to ask for their input or advice if they have more experience in an area than you do.

So for me, I think it would be to have a general understanding of how to approach the problems I will reasonably see within the sport I'm pursuing — and also have enough connections in other areas so that I know I will have help if I need to pick up the phone and call someone.