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t is not very often a torn rotator cuff helps influence a person’s career path.
For Molly Street, it turned out to be a blessing.
Street suffered the injury during a physical education class at Johnson Creek High School where she attended while living in Lake Mills.
She quickly became fascinated by the work of the physical therapist who helped her recover from the injury.
“I just knew I loved what he did,” Street said. “You get to work with all kinds of people, and I think everytime I went to his clinic, we talked about schools and the best options where I could go.
After graduating high school, Street enrolled at UW-Stevens Point where she eventually earned her degree in athletic training.
Street will soon begin working with student/athletes at Indiana Tech in Fort Wayne, and also study for her MBA in health care administration.
Street, who played volleyball and softball at Johnson Creek, said her mother, who worked in health care, was a major influence.
“I just wanted to help people,” Street said. “I always enjoyed playing sports. I thought I could combine the two and be around sports forever.”
Street signed up at UW-Stevens Point after learning the school had an excellent program in athletic training.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better experience,” Street said. “You get to work with the college teams and local high schools. I knew that this was the place where I would get what I needed out of my education.
“I was not just going to be another face in the crowd. I was going to be a name and I would be known.”
Street worked at the school’s athletic clinic. She said oftentimes, she would use skills she learned the same day in class.
“We got hands on clinical experience everyday at Stevens Point,” Street said.
“We learned about rehab by working at the strength center with athletes after they came from the doctor. They would get to see us everyday and work with the same person. It was cool to take those classes and get the hands on experience afterwards.”
Street said one of the biggest lessons she learned was that being an athletic trainer was more than just treating injuries.
Oftentimes, patients would use her as a shoulder to lean on.
“You were there to help them. You were an ear to talk to if they were having difficulty in school or at home,” Street said.
“The title athletic trainer is a lot more than just to attend games and make sure athletes are OK. You have to convince them that it is up to them to get better, and I will not be magically able to fix them.”
But, according to Street, she would occasionally run into patients who thought they knew best how to treat their injuries even though she was the athletic trainer with the expertise on how to help them heal.
“From time to time, you would get the difficult college athlete who would be so adamant that they knew how to get better and knew what was right for them,” Street said.
Before earning her degree at Stevens Point in May, Street began looking for jobs as a graduate assistant. She accepted an offer she could not refuse from Indiana Tech, which offered her a position and a scholarship to take classes toward her MBA.
In August, Street will begin working with the school’s volleyball team, and may be assigned later to provide assistance to the men’s and women’s basketball team and the men’s and women’s lacrosse team.
Street said she should earn her MBA in two years. After that, she hopes to land a job in hospital administration with emphasis on athletic training.
Looking back on her schooling at Stevens Point, Street said she was very fortunate to get top notch instruction and hands-on training to help her achieve her career goals.
“The opportunities Stevens Point provided me were absolutely amazing,” Street said. “I couldn’t have asked for a better four years.”