Emily Leighton | Staff Writer
Echo King is a senior Athletic Training major from Claremore, Oklahoma. King is a member of the Buena Vista University (BVU) Women’s Soccer team and is president of the athletic training club, BVATS. She is also a member of the BVU Athletic Training (AT) program.
King has a love for the program and all that they do. She enjoys the fact that the ATs are so involved in the sport, even if it may not seem like it from the outside. While it is a huge commitment as far as time goes, but King feels it is worth every experience and connection.
“The AT program is more than just hanging out with the athletes at games and practices. We are there before a single athlete shows up, and we are there after they are long gone. We must care for each individual before practice, after practice, and throughout the day with appointments. The care we provide goes well beyond what is seen at practices and competitions. We evaluate injuries, maintain our facility, work with local physicians, and develop interpersonal relationships within the teams and staff,” King said.
As a senior, King gets to be the head assistant to one of the certified ATs when working with sports. King will work with wrestling this winter and with spring rehab for injured athletes in the spring.
Jamie Schoenherr, one of BVU’s certified ATs, is very proud of King and everything that she brings to the training room and has accomplished over the years.
“Echo is one of the students that you can always count on to help. That is just the type of person she is. She is also a great mentor to her peers. She is always willing to jump in and help out with any and all tasks, even when it’s something new and unfamiliar with. She asks questions so she understands and she then takes that and teaches others. She isn’t afraid of hard work and she demonstrates that on a regular basis. With students like Echo we make great strides forward and she and others are what makes our program great,” Schoenherr said.
Being an AT student, a college student, collegiate soccer player, and a senior; King still miraculously finds time to have fun.
“Most of my life is spent in the AT room. I see my friends, do my homework, take classes, and provide care all within the AT room. It is a second home that only my fellow AT students can truly understand,” King said.
One of the toughest parts about being in the AT program is time management skills students have to develop. Having the added component of clinicals that must be completed can be tough for students to fit into their already busy schedules. There are also extra opportunities that come up such as chances to watch a surgery be preformed or a sudden injury of a player.
“The toughest part of being an AT student is time management. All students are busy, athletic students are crazy busy! Classes are tough because athletic training is a health profession. We never know when ‘something cool’ and unplanned is going to walk in or happen. The time management becomes more important so they can have extra time incase something unplanned does happen. Those are the learning experience that they won’t forget, still must be doing well in class and having time for themselves,” Schoenherr said.
