Olivia Mundorff – Athletic Training Internship

My name is Olivia Mundorff, and I intern right here at Garden Spot High School. Except, I don’t intern a teacher, instead I get to intern our Athletic Trainer, Marc Schaffer. Last year I joined the Student Trainer Club at our school and really enjoyed working with Marc and the other people who work in the athletic department. Last years experience is what sparked my interest in officially interning with Marc during the school day so I could continue experiencing what life is really like as an Athletic Trainer.

In the beginning of the year, during the fall sports seasons, my daily routine consisted of filling up water coolers for the outdoor sports. While this wasn’t the most fun activity, it is a crucial part of an athletic trainers job because hydration is key for athletes. The best job duty of fall sports season was football Friday’s. Each Friday during the school day we would go out to the stadium and set up our station. Then that night I would get to stand out on the sidelines with Marc and assist as needed during the games which was a lot of fun.

 

The greatest success I’ve had from this internship is knowing that I am providing a useful service to our school’s athletic department. I’ve gotten to all sorts of jobs during my internship from providing athletes with ice to organizing the equipment room. Despite how big or small any of these jobs are, they all help our school’s athletic department one way or another. A challenge I’ve found during this internship is some of the tedious tasks it entails. One of the most frustrating tasks I’ve had to do is filing sports paperwork for our athletes. Yet, despite the annoying task, I was able to overcome it by reminding myself how important the job was for Marc and the other members of the athletic department.

Overall, this internship has been a wonderful experience where I’ve learned a lot. Working with Marc during the school day and also after school during sporting events has taught me that there’s so much more to athletic training than just taping kids ankles. By having this internship experience I was able to see what the real-life workforce is really like. Even if I don’t become an athletic trainer I still was able to see what it’s like having an actual professional job. But the most important thing I learned from being an intern is that even though you’re at work you can still have a lot of fun!