Drew D’Allaird

Dr. Larouere

Intro to Exercise Science

10/9/20

I interviewed Cheryl Rockwood for my second career exploration. Cheryl is the

Head Athletic Trainer at Union College in Schenectady, New York. Cheryl and her staff

work with every athlete on campus. I did an internship with her in the fall of 2019 to see

what it was like in this field because I would like to be an AT one day. Cheryl’s work

environment is made up of a great staff of her and three other athletic trainers as well as

many athletes of different shapes, sizes and needs. Their AT room is a lot bigger than

the one we have here at Seton Hill. They had their main office in the corner of the room,

next to their office was the taping area for athletes who needed to get their joints taped.

In the middle of the room they had a big space for motion work and stretching. I mainly

saw baseball and athletes who had surgeries use this area to help the recovery into

their sports. On the other side, they had tables for assisted stretching and the electric

muscle stimulation machines. They also had a hot tub and ice tub that athletes loved

and hated using.

Since Cheryl is an Athletic Trainer she works with athletes and only athletes that

attend Union College and play a sport that is not a club. Cheryl, while I interned with

her, was working mainly with the football team. All the players knew her and would

come to her with any questions or pains they had. All the athletes knew the whole staff

and loved them all.

 After interning with Cheryl and her staff, I would still definitely pursue Athletic

Training. Cheryl told me how rewarding it is to help athletes recover from injuries so

they can play the sport they love. She also told me that if someone is not totally set on

being an AT, to not pursue it. It is long hours and little pay, so someone should seek out

other options before finalizing their job decision. Cheryl would work upwards of 12 hours

a day sometimes be super busy in those hours.

When asked the interview questions she replied...

“I would do exactly what I did with you.....I would discourage this job, I would make sure

you have looked at all your other options....I would have that person follow me around seven

days a week to see what it takes to run a college athletic training room....then if the person still

wants to be a collegiate athletic trainer they enter this profession with their eyes wide open.

Hopefully they will have the passion, patience, knowledge and pride in a job that makes going to

work every day, a pleasure! Helping student athletes reach their potential in all facets of their

lives is very rewarding.”