As my internship came to a close I was amazed at how much I had grown, learn, and networked during my all too short 6 months there. Six months may seem like a long time but I loved every minute of it and felt it slip by extremely fast. I met so many wonderful people, athletes, medical personnel, cooking staff, and fellow interns and expanded my network of contacts. Some friendships I made for life, others were done when the internship finished. I still keep in contact with the Certified Athletic Trainers, Chiropractors, and Physical Therapists that I worked with and learned from. They have impacted my life from a career standpoint and I value their opinions.
I left Colorado Springs only twice during my 6 month stay. One weekend I took a trip to Los Angeles, CA with two fellow interns for fun, the other weekend I traveled back to St. Paul Minnesota to graduate with the class of 2010. My internship had impacted my life, and my academic career, in addition to my professional career. When I returned to Northwestern College, while I was happy to see my close friends, and the professor’s who pushed me to pursue beyond Northwestern, all I could think about was what I had left behind at the Olympic Training Center. I knew schedules for sports and personnel, doctor’s appointments that needed to be made, and even though I enjoyed graduation and felt the accomplishment of my hard work during college I knew where I wanted to be.
My supervisor at the Olympic Training Center was so impressed with my work that he asked me to stay on a few more weeks to train the two new interns who would be there for the summer semester. Due to the nature of the internship program, interns are housed on the Olympic Training Center grounds for the duration of their internship; since I would stay extra weeks I was left to find housing off complex. Fortunately I had immediately contacted a local church and had been meeting with them on Sundays and was offered a place to stay when it was announced that I was “homeless”. Once that was taken care of I had to find a car to get to work every day, again the Lord provided with transportation. Because interns eat, and live on complex I was able to form close bonds with athletes, not only because of the living situation during the internship but because I worked in sports medicine and athletes were constantly in and out of the clinic. One of the athletes offered their car to me as she did not use it often enough to need it. Moving was easy as I had plenty of athletes offering to help transport and load my stuff to my new living area.
Two weeks went by extremely fast and again I was preparing to move, this time back home to the great state of Wisconsin. My supervisors and the interns I had trained took me out to dinner with a couple athletes the night before my last day of work. I couldn’t believe it was ending, I had found where I wanted to be and did not want to ever leave. My last day was typical; although at the end of the day many hugs were given to the staff I had relied on so heavily for the last 6 months. In my last conversation with my head supervisor, the Director of Sports Medicine for the United States Olympic Committee, I asked him what I needed to do to get back to Colorado Springs as an employee and he told me. Before I left his office he said to me, “Shayla, you really belong here, and I will keep my ears open for any opportunities that might get you back here.” That was the most exciting interaction I had for the duration of my internship. I met many famous athletes, I learned from over 20 different medical professionals, I observed Olympic sport practices, but that meeting with my supervisor will remain with me.
Over the summer I kept in contact with my supervisor, knowing that he was keeping me as options for jobs at the Olympic Training Center. While none of the opportunities worked out, due to other job commitments, he continued to encourage me through our conversations on the phone and through email.
Back in Wisconsin after my summer obligations, I gave myself an ultimatum of finding a job, or going back to school to start the journey for certification as an Athletic Trainer. This was one of the things I had discussed with my supervisor in Colorado and it was something I new I would have to do. But with the “Olympic itch” started I routinely checked the London 2012 Summer Olympics website for opportunities that might be open to me for involvement.
In October of 2010 I applied to the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. At the same time I began the application process for a London Summer Olympics Volunteer. In December of 2010 I submitted my volunteer application and read the guidelines and information about the process, which is very long.
I entered in the Spring 2011 semester as a second-degree undergraduate student to UWM. Not exactly where I wanted to be, but another step in my journey to the Olympic Training Center.
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