Graduation Speech : My Athletic Trainer Essay

athletes in an effort to prevent injuries. They work in amateur and professional sports. Once injuries occur, the athletic trainer is required to evaluate the problem and get the athlete the proper medical treatment. He or she also makes sure that athletes are physically ready and able to play after an injury. Athletic trainers set up physical conditioning programs for athletes, work with equipment managers to make sure that playing and training areas are in working order, and also work with physicians in developing and implementing a rehabilitation program for injured players. Athletic trainers work in offices, treatment

Many people are more active today than they were many years ago. Injury prevention and diagnosis plays a big role in today’s society. Preventing an injury is important for many athletes all over the world, and for people that are physically active. Preventing injuries can benefit an athlete in the long run. Athletic trainers help athletes and physically active people stay healthy for what they do on a daily basis.

The profession that I am interested in is an Athletic Trainer. I have chosen this career because it is something that I have recently become passionate about within the last two years. I have never been the kind of person to struggle with weight, however after having my 3rd and last child, weight has become an issue. I mention my personal struggle to give insight on why I have chosen an Athletic Trainer. This profession’s main goal is physical fitness. As a trainer you become responsible for another person’s physical active lifestyle. Assisting clients from injury to recovery, evaluating their bodies and advising the individual what is best. Athletic Trainers has many responsibilities. AT’s are professionals in the health care world who mainly caters to athletes. An AT however isn’t limited to just athletes. They work with just about anyone. Ages ranging from a child to an adult. Different skill and jobs, people such as soldiers, high school athletes, and professional athletes.

As a young student, I have always aspired to become a teacher. Growing up, what I realized was that teaching is my future. Teaching is all I have focused on for years, slowly preparing myself to become a teacher. It is my passion and it was I believe I am meant to do. The only thing that worried me over all was the amount of money that a beginning teacher gets paid. I worry because of my future family. I worry that I won't be able to support them with a low-paying salary that teachers receive. I do not want to juggle around more than one job because that would bring stress and take away my focus from teaching. Though it is not about the money and I would never do it for the money, I worry that I won't be able to live off a teacher salary. Teacher pay should increase because higher salaries would improve the quality of the candidates applying for teaching positions, retaining teachers will become easier, and overall to improve the quality of teachers so the success of students would improve.

Choosing a vocation can be a daunting task. With the world ever-evolving, one may come across a new attractive career every year. In order to ensure optimal job satisfaction, it is vital to educate oneself about every alluring prospect prior to committing. Simple factors like the time commitment and salary can mean the difference between a content existence and a miserable one.

     High school teachers’ average salary varies across the world. The United States is said to be one of the richest countries in the world, yet our teachers are being paid one of the lowest amounts. The Education Intelligence Agency, author of the article “Ohio Teacher Overcomes Union’s Tolerance” published an International Teacher Salary Report ranking the fifty states by “how much the average salary exceeded per capita personal income.” According to the Education Intelligence Agency Ohio’s percentage rate is only fifty- five point one percent. According to the Education Intelligence Agency the lowest state percentage is in South Dakota at twenty- three point six percent and the highest state percentage is

The low pay for our educators is causing many negative effects. New York Times shows that the low income is causing sixty-two percent of teachers to have a second job outside of their teaching jobs. Just to have enough money to support their families and make ends meet. Most everyone decides to college to prevent having these struggles with money, and to avoid having to work multiple jobs, when they get older; however, not when it comes to living off of only a teacher’s income, the struggles to have enough money are interminable. This low pay is also causing most teachers to retire, and find new jobs. New York Times states, “every year 20 percent of teachers in urban districts quit. Nationwide, 46 percent of teachers quit before their fifth year. The turnover costs the

In the last two decades, the United States has seen drastic reforms to in education. Teachers now face rigorous performance rate testing and underfunded schools (Klien). In Colorado, teacher pay has “declined by 7% over the past decade” (Whaley). For years, teaching primary or secondary education was considered a respectable and stable job. However, Colorado is now facing problems regarding the teacher workforce. Colorado is experiencing a labor shortage in educational school teacher positions in due the declining perception of teaching impacting the quality of the education in Colorado. The severity of this shortage will continue to increase in the next 5 years and will affect the other Colorado Industries.

In today’s society one of the most important factors in selecting a career field is rate of pay. No matter whether the profession maybe, the dollar figure must be within a range that allows the employee to maintain a substantial lifestyle. The debate of teacher pay scales has raged on for years. Many argue that the current pay scale for teachers is a scale which rewards teachers merely for seniority. They argue that the current pay scale overlooks those educators which demonstrate exceptional performance. Teacher merit pay systems have been the most popular suggestions made to remedy the problems seen with the current pay scale. Although the current pay scale may not be completely effective, the idea of

The issue of teacher shortage today is continuing to grow. The effects of the achievement gap are reaching the teachers, not just the students: “...good administrators and teachers, who are doing their best under difficult circumstances, will be driven out of the profession…,” (Boyd-Zaharias 41). The achievement gap is part of the reason teachers feel they are underpaid, which happens to be one of the leading cause in teacher shortage considering, “Teachers were paid two percent less [than comparable workers] in 1994, but by 2015 the wage penalty rose to 17 percent,” (Long). Being a teacher requires passion in order to stay in the field, especially if the money in teaching is decreasing. Money is an important aspect for people when it comes to their careers, therefore, fewer people want to become teachers. This lack of teachers and the lack of college students studying to become a teacher leads to unqualified teachers and larger classroom sizes (Ostroff). Both of these causes are eventually affecting students’ learning environments. I chose this issue in education for my project because I have personally felt these effects, and I know others who have as well. As a future educator, I want to see better wages and better benefits, but this can only happen with qualified, passionate teachers. I plan on being one of them, and I plan on sparking a change. I am a future educator fighting to end teacher shortage.

I would like to become a certified athletic trainer through the Linfield program because of my love for sports and medicine. I was involved in a number of sports throughout my life and have gone through a number of injuries. There is one injury in particular that sparked my interest in athletic training. I was playing soccer at Chemeketa Community College when I broke my foot. I spent many hours with the athletic trainer there Julie Speck (PT/ATC/R), who gave me the opportunity to work with her in the training room. She also sparked another interest and that is to get my dual credentials in athletic training and physical therapy. I see myself using both degrees in the future like my mentor Julie Spark (PT/ATC/R). She works in a hospital as a physical therapist and is contracted out to Chemeketa Community College as an athletic trainer. This is exactly what I plan to do with both my degrees.

Teachers have and will always have a big impact in everyone’s life and if not everyone, well, at least they did for me. They teach you everything you need to know about a subject and valuable life lessons, so why are they not paid sufficiently enough to make a decent living? Teachers salaries have always been low and I believe it is the time that changes. Being a lawyer, doctor, or engineer is great, but none of that would be possible without the insight of a teacher, I will inform you in this paper on why I believe there is a need for action. I will go over the background of teacher’s salaries, my ideas on what would be best for teachers not just in Texas, but nationwide, and pros and cons on the issues and ideas at hand.

With beginning teachers usually earning entirely less than other college graduates, the profession is at loss of top-notch, quality people who tend to find jobs seeking more money. Almost 50 percent leave the profession within 5 years, lured by higher pay and prestige elsewhere in the booming U.S. economy (World, 1999, par. 7). Starting teachers average a $25,735 salary in the United States compared to an engineer earning $56,820 or a physical therapist earning $56,600 (Engineer, 2000, par.1). And what signal does it send out about the value of good teachers and a good education when a 45-year-old teacher with a master’s degree earns $45,000 a year and a 25-year-old out of law school often starts at $80,000, considering a six year education for a master’s degree and a seven year education for a law degree (Greenhouse, 2002, par. 4)? A teacher is also given no compensation for the long hours spent basically in overtime work. The teacher’s day does not end when they leave school because if lesson plans, grading, or planning is not completed, it will have to be finished on their own time. Accountants, paralegals, and engineers all are compensated and get paid overtime for work that does not get completed in a regular day or if they want to stay and

Lurking over our great country is a troubling issue that is plaguing the professional educational workforce. When compared worldwide, American teachers work the most hours, yet are paid in the lowest brackets when related to the top 32 nations (Teachers Pay). In addition, when you compare a teacher’s salary to other four year degree salaries, teachers are among the 5 lowest paid degrees (O’Shaughnessy). Not only are the salaries among the lowest in the American workforce, a typical teachers at home workload exceeds all other professional jobs by 20% (Current). Furthermore, teachers were only given a 2.3% salary raise in 2009. Yet the rate of inflation rose to 3.1% causing a loss in purchasing power and creating a hardship on the

Thesis: Elementary teachers may not have highest income, but they have one of the most fulfilling careers.