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Making “Doc” Proud

Article reposted from Illinois State University
Author: Illinois State University

Jaylon Joyner is a man with a plan. And that plan is all about preparing for the unknown.

Joyner, an Illinois State University senior, wants to be an athletic trainer, the person who runs onto the field when someone gets hurt. He’ll have to make split-second decisions about what to do next.

“I like that it’s spontaneous, that you never know what you’re getting yourself into,” said Joyner, an athletic training and physical education teacher education double major.

Joyner has a clear path toward reaching his career goal, thanks in large part to private giving and scholarships. This year Joyner was the recipient of two scholarship awards in the School of Kinesiology and Recreation, including the Robert “Doc” Kief Scholarship.

Kief was an Illinois State faculty member and Redbird athletic trainer. The scholarship for students majoring in athletic training was established after his death in 2013 by his wife, Joyce Morton Kief, who taught at ISU.

“Our generous donors make it possible for students to realize their passion during their time at Illinois State University,” said Jan Murphy, interim dean for the College of Applied Science and Technology. “In today’s job market, a college degree is more important than ever, and private gifts allow a student to continue learning without interruptions or distractions. We are grateful to our many donors for the extraordinary support they provide to our students.”

Like Joyner, Kief had both a physical education and athletic training background. Kief was a nontraditional student himself, enrolling at Illinois State in the 1960s at age 39. Joyner is the first in his family to attend college.

“That meant a lot to me,” Joyner said. “I’m taking the same steps he did when he was in college.”

Joyner has excelled at Illinois State, in and out of the classroom. The University Scholar is an Honors student, a resident assistant, and president of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. He’s also enjoying his experiences in the School of Kinesiology and Recreation, especially clinical rotations that have already placed him with the Redbird baseball, track and field, and football teams.

Joyner has his career plan sketched out in great detail. He wants to work as an athletic trainer and teacher at a high school, maybe even be an athletics director someday. He plans to finish his undergraduate education in May 2018, and then go to graduate school in Chicago.

But to graduate on time, he’s taking a lot of credit hours each semester.

“So that extra scholarship money definitely helps out,” Joyner said. “I’m very honored to receive it.”

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Langellier Hired at Illinois State

Article reposted from Illinois State University
Author: Barbara Schlatter

Dane Langellier ’12, M.S. ’14, of Donovan, earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in athletic training from the School of Kinesiology and Recreation. He had never heard of the field until he received treatment from an athletic trainer in high school for an injury sustained during a sports competition. Surprised to learn that athletic training was a profession, he decided to pursue the major in college with the goal of providing injured athletes with treatments that would help them recover and return to their athletic activities.

An exciting turn of events occurred when Langellier was offered an assistant athletic trainer position right out of graduate school with the Illinois State football team! After just two years, he became the head athletic trainer. “Working with a football team you have a lot of athletes to take care of, and the coolest part of that is getting to know each of them as individuals and learning their unique backgrounds.”

Langellier said the job is challenging because of the high number of athletes he works with during the hectic football season. “Things start off relatively slow and controlled during summer workouts but quickly move into the full speed during training camp in August. Once the team is in season, injuries happen at a much faster rate, and it becomes more of a challenge to treat injuries and keep the athletes on the field with limited ‘off time.’”

For Langellier, seeing athletes return to their peak level of performance after injury is the most rewarding aspect of his job. It can be a long process for an athlete to return to full participation after injury. Along the way they may get frustrated or disappointed with their injuries. Helping them through the physical and psychological aspects of the injury can be challenging, but when they do finally return to their full performance level it makes it all worth it.

Langellier encourages new athletic training graduates to develop solid career goals early in their career. This way when it becomes time to enter the workforce they will have a clear direction for where they want to go and the motivation to get there.

One of Langellier’s fondest memories at Illinois State was the 2014-2015 football season. The run to the National Championship game was an unbelievable experience that he hopes to experience many times over in his career.

He feels very fortunate to have met so many great people at Illinois State who have helped him get to where he is today, and he will never forget what they have done for him. Perhaps most importantly, though, Illinois State holds a special place in his heart as being the place where he met his wife, Larissa Zalite Langellier. They were married earlier this summer!

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Athletic training major interns at Kennedy Space Center

Jamie Peers’ summer internship took her a little south of Bloomington-Normal. Peers, an athletic training major in Illinois State’s School of Kinesiology and Recreation, spent her summer as an athletic training intern at the Kennedy Space Center RehabWorks in Florida.

At RehabWorks, Peers was responsible for evaluating acute and chronic injuries and assisting in the development and implementation of rehabilitation plans. “Within the first week, they had us performing hands-on patient care and participating in the evaluation process, and by the midterm mark we were able to make patient care calls,” Peers said. “It was great to get real-world experience while still having the coordinators nearby in case I needed advice.”

Peers’ patients ranged in age from 20 to 70 years old and worked as rocket scientists, security personnel, firefighters, and administrative assistants. Many of the patients led very active lifestyles and some of their goals included returning to recreational sports. This was a new population for Peers to work with, as her hands-on experience at Illinois State had been limited to working with 18- to 22-year-old football and baseball players.

“Having to adapt definitely strengthened me as an athletic trainer,” said Peers. “With this new experience, I have more confidence and a skill set that I did not have prior to this internship.”

Peers will be a senior at Illinois State this fall and would like to become a certified and licensed athletic trainer upon graduation. She is interested in pursuing a position in Division I athletics, but this internship has opened her eyes to the possibility of working in a clinic with a specialized patient population.

Peers encourages students looking for internships to think outside of the box. “Find something that will really challenge you,” said Peers. “Look for an opportunity that will give you the most real-time experience in your field of study.”