My Postcard

Although this may not be your typical image when you think of what a postcard should look like, this image speaks to me in so many different ways. I didn’t start my education thinking that the way I wanted to help people was to teach. I started university with the desire to help people, but not really knowing how. Until I discovered Athletic Therapy which seemed to be a perfect fit. As time went on, I realized that as an athletic therapist, I didn’t just help people by treating their injuries. I became a friend, a teacher, a confidant, a counsellor, someone who listens and is trusted.

I didn’t realize it- but I am constantly teaching in my own way. I have student trainers that work for me, clinic volunteers that I supervise, and practicum students that I mentor. This image illustrates such a large part of who I am and what I do. I am extremely passionate about teaching all of my students, and my athletes as well. When I get a text or an email from a past student telling me which postgrad program they’ve gotten in to and seeing the excitement that radiates from them! Knowing that I was able to contribute to the big picture.

Which brings me to what really animates me – helping others to see the big picture. The big picture in my case is the human body. How everything is connected and how it all works together. A knee injury is very rarely “just a knee injury” and my approach is to always look “upstream, downstream”. I want to learn how to teach this for all different kinds of learners. Those who need more hands on learning (which was definitely me), visual learning, or a combination.

I am a small town girl from a VERY small town in northern Manitoba. 800 people when the mine wasn't doing so well and gold was low; 1200 people when things were "booming"! People knew who you were, who your family was, and your back story. This could be a good and bad thing - small town people are pretty nosy, but you also have a very close knit community that really cares about one another. I remember leaving home at 8am on our bikes and coming home at 8pm, and our parents were never really worried because someone would feed us, as they had done with neighbourhood kids many times. 

I grew up playing every sport because in a town that size, you didn't really have a choice! If you didn't play, we didn't have a team. I had seen a few injuries through sports, but we didn't have a physio or AT or anything in town, and I had no idea there was a thing called "rehab". I broke my ankle in grade 11 (with my dad in the stands yelling "walk it off!") and when I got my cast off, the doc said, "alright, get back to it!" Which led me in grade 12, to decide that yes, I was going to school, and I was going to do something to help people! But not a nurse... so what? 

I was working out in the gym at the University of Manitoba, and I saw a young man stretching out another young man. Turned out that John was the student therapist for the men's hockey team and he was stretching out one of his athletes. We started chatting and he gave me the name of the program director. One conversation with her and I knew - this is what I want to do. 

They don't teach you in school the full spec of what an athletic therapist is. Sure we treat you, make you feel better, rehab your injuries... but we become your confidant, someone who pushes you to your limits, provides trust & a safe haven, your counsellor, the person you need to hate when things are really that bad, and eventually, your friend. There are some days that it is so emotionally draining that I think "what am I doing? I could easily get a 9-5 and leave work at work". But then there are some days, when you take a look around and see the determination, relentlessness, and the desire to succeed and it actually blows your mind! They teach me as much as I teach them. 

This is why I applied to the HEAL program. I want to keep teaching and keep inspiring and being there for people. I want to push my students and help them succeed, to learn to have faith in themselves as I have faith in them. But also to challenge myself, push myself out of my comfort zone, and learn to have the faith in myself that they all have in me.