For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to work in healthcare. This was my first, and only, serious career concern. When I say serious career concern, I am of course not talking about my lifelong dream to play professional baseball or be a rockstar. Like many, those are still dreams, but I’ve recognized reality. For all the time I put into playing professional baseball, I ended up getting injured many times, which led me to want to enter healthcare. If you asked me when I graduated from high school what I’d be doing in 10 years I would have told you I would be a physical therapist. I was wrong.

In my first semester at Sacred Heart University, I decided I wanted to become an athletic trainer. The field fit my personality well. It was sports medicine, which basically is healthcare mixed with sports. I was hooked. I didn’t consider that I still could become a physical therapist, physician assistant, or even a physician. I wanted to be an athletic trainer. My dream then was to become an athletic trainer for the Boston Red Sox, my favorite team. I kept perusing that dream after college when I became a graduate assistant athletic trainer with a Division I baseball program. I quickly realized that Division I athletics was more attainable career path, as professional baseball jobs were hard to get. So that was my goal: Division I college athletics. I’ve worked at multiple D1 institutions, worked with championship teams and I’ve worked with last place teams. Throughout my career I’ve learned that working hard for the people is very important. But, I have also had my brushes with burnout. Recently this lead me to leave D1 athletics.

I’m constantly trying to adapt and grow. Leaving college has allowed me to reset and regroup both personally and professionally. I’m constantly learning and changing. D1 athletics wasn’t working for me, which is why I transitioned over the hospital setting of athletic training. I’ve learned a lot in this experience. Will I stay in this setting forever? No. Will I go back to college sports? While I don’t know what the future holds, I believe that I will at some point. Do I want to work with a baseball team? Absolutely, yes. My journey is full of different directions of change.

Adapt, learn, and move forward, that’s what we are all doing.