My Health and Human Performance Internship: The Most Humbling Job

By Ashley McAllister '18

The final week of my internship spent at a physical therapy clinic was full of reflection, good-byes, and many thanks from patients along with encouraging words as I continue on my journey.

During my last week I continued to learn new techniques including how physical therapists analyze a person’s gait. Taylor, the clinic’s physical therapy assistant, told me that there is a lot more than just “watching” the person walk when looking at someone’s gait. Everything goes into account, how their hips, knees, feet and even toes move as they walk. All of these things help a therapist determine how a person is moving. Taylor shared with me how during her schooling they used different techniques to look at each other’s gait during lab. One technique was sprinkling baby powder on the floor and having a person walk across it. This allows someone looking at gait to see which part of the foot a person is walking on and which toes they are using more. 

Overall, Taylor told me it takes a lot of practice to become really good at noticing the incorrect ways people move. I was able to watch a couple patients of Taylor's while she was observing their gait and I could pick up on how they were moving incorrectly based on their injuries. I felt accomplished being able to pick up on how the patient was moving and then being able to see the improvement after Taylor corrected them was a very neat experience.

As I continued to reflect on my experiences this summer I realize that you meet so many amazing people with many different backgrounds in this job field. For example, I met a patient whose life was completely changed after a terrible car crash. Despite their disability, the patient owns their own business and is one of the sweetest people I’ve met. It was amazing hearing their story and seeing how positive and hard-working they are. It was very humbling to meet and work with this person.

My last day was bittersweet, being told by many patients that I’ll do amazing things and hearing their good luck wishes with my future endeavors. It was really a confidence boost hearing so many people tell me I’m going to do great things in the future and to just have them wish me luck. I enjoyed my time at the clinic and I plan to check in with everyone I worked with. I am so blessed to have done my internship with this clinic. It was an amazing experience I know I couldn’t have gotten anywhere else!

My Health and Human Performance Internship: An Internship That Led Me to the Next Step After Graduation

By Sarah Hendrix

This past semester I completed my 400-hour internship and had the privilege of working with our athletic training staff here at Ferrum. I went in to the internship unsure of what I was going to be doing after I graduated in May, but during my internship, I was able to find that out. I learned something new almost everyday; it did not matter if it was with my supervisor athletic trainer or another trainer in the athletic training room. I was able to stretch people, make them ice bags, help correct their movements during rehab, and so on, but I also learned some about the paperwork side of things. Luckily, being an athlete here, I could see how the paperwork was done because I was shown on my file. I was able to help out with two great teams and their coaches here on campus, the baseball and women’s basketball teams. I helped out with other sports too when I could, but those two teams were the main two I helped with during my internship.

Over the semester I had been thinking about applying to Bridgewater College to further my education, because at the end of the fall semester, our HHP department told me about the articulation agreement we had just made with Bridgewater College for their Master of Science in Athletic Training Program. I ended up applying right before spring break, the head professor called me and we discussed a few questions I had and he said he would get back to me with some answers. When he got back to me, he had answers, but also wanted me to come in for an interview and I went for one over spring break. The following week they called and offered me admission into the program, but I discussed it with my family before I made the decision a week later to attend Bridgewater. I am excited, but it is crazy to think that I am already at the point in my life to be attending Graduate School.

Needless to say, my internship here, in the athletic training room at Ferrum, helped lead me to what I will be doing after graduation. I did not know that I was going to be this interested in athletic training until my internship. I knew being an athlete through college that I was not ready to be away from the world of sports yet, so I had thought about coaching with whatever was next for me. I have always wanted to help people and with athletic training I can help the athletes I work with, but I also am able to stay around the sports world. This opportunity for graduate school fell into my lap at a perfect time because my internship made me realize that this was the next step for me. I am very thankful for the opportunity I had to work with some great coaches, athletes, professors, and especially the athletic training staff here at Ferrum College. I thank all of them for helping prepare me for the next step in my career path. I look forwards to expanding my knowledge in the athletic training world when I get to Bridgewater College.

My Health and Human Performance Internship: The Neglected and the Unnoticed Body Guards

By Andy Tobias

(L-R) George Coles, Jayson Shurland, Andy Tobias, Dashey Ramsey, Bryan Smith, and Cameron Clark.

As a former Ferrum College football player and soon to be Ferrum alumni, one last step before becoming a part of the real world is the completion of the Health and Human Performance internship. With me working towards a coaching minor, it only seemed fitting to complete this internship with the Ferrum College football staff.

This week consisted of me observing and learning about the jobs of the body guards, the offensive line men. Coach Summers is the one with his hands on the reins, meaning he is the one that teaches the meetings and he is also the Offensive Coordinator. Sitting in on these meetings gave me a different perspective of the sport of football. I’ve established that this group of kids do not get enough credit. This position works just as hard as other positions but they don’t get half as much the acknowledgement.

In the meetings, I learned there are two main jobs of the body guards, one being to protect the quarterback in pass protection then there is running back protection through run blocking. Inside of these two jobs, there is so much thought and skill that needs to be applied that allows an offensive lineman to achieve greatness. To be a good offensive lineman has a lot to do with good foot movement and good hand placement.

You may be wondering why I named this journal The Neglected and the Unnoticed, but you are soon to be informed. How many times a game do offensive line men score? How often do their names get yelled out over the intercom? How many times does the media blame a loss on the offensive line men not making their blocks? This happens, sometimes, if the offensive line group is really bad, but in that matter they are getting a negative side of praise.

They are neglected and unnoticed because most of the time the only time the body guards are noticed is when they are doing the wrong thing. For the amount of work, these guys put in they do not get enough credit. For an offensive lineman to get awards all of the coaches for different teams have to vote the player in to even get an honorable mention. The only real praise the body guards get is if they are the best of the best and they get recognized by all the surrounding teams. As a former body guard for Ferrum College, I feel sympathy for this group of young men.

My Health and Human Performance Internship: Yard Sale Prep

By Jessica Turner '17

During my 5th week of my HHP internship at the Franklin County Perinatal Education Center I have worked most of my time on preparation for the spring yard sale. The FCPEC is a non-profit organization so they have to fundraise to get a majority of their money. The yard is one of their biggest fundraisers of the year. So I helped to sort some of the donated clothes into winter and summer clothes based on their sizes. They have a fall and spring yard sale, so they try to only have out summer clothes during the spring yard sale and winter clothes in the fall yard sale. I also have to make sure that the clothes don’t have too many stains or too worn out. If the clothes are have stains or too worn out we either throw them out or donate them to Goodwill. I also got to test out the electrical appliances that have been donated. I tested everything from irons and microwaves to bacon cookers and Christmas lights. I spent two of my days testing all of the different electronics and most of them worked.

During my 6th week, I worked more on the yard sale items. I got to measure and package curtains that were donated. At the beginning I was struggling trying to figure out the best way to measure and fold the curtains because they are so long. After about two or three tries I got it down and was on a roll. I also started organizing childbirth care packages that I had made into girl or boy and winter or summer. I had to figure out the best way to storage them. I found these giant plastic bags labeled them and put the specific package into the big bag. I’ve made so many of these care packages that mothers will be getting these after I finish my internship at FCPEC. That is a very exciting thought for me, that I will be making a small impact on this place even after my internship is up.

The FC Perinatal Education Center is partnered with Bath and Body Works and Tuesday Morning in Roanoke and they will donate items. When the stores get returns that they can’t put back on the shelves they will donate them to us. So there are some very nice and high quality things donated to them, like comforters and lamps. Amy goes and picks up carloads from both stores at least once a week.

I feel like I’m getting into a flow now, I feel comfortable going in and doing whatever Amy asks of me and she can leave me to do it. I’ve been learning how much work goes into putting on a fundraiser and keeping a non-profit running. Amy runs everything basically by herself, does paperwork, sets up classes, and does fundraisers. She has one lady that comes in twice a week to help price and sort donations for the yard sale and another lady that comes in during the mornings and helps answer phones and helps mail out postcards. Other than them, she does everything. You can really see her love for what she does, she never complains about all the work, besides paper work occasionally. She always has a smile on her face and had such a positive attitude.