Come. On. "I see how it is" No you do not. When I am not studying I am at the stadium on a 8 hour football shift. Then I come back, run, then study. Of course I want to hang out but these next 2 weeks I am in a pretty obligate relationship with my books. I don't want to take this test again, so please be a friend and try to understand. Please.
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I finally started my Sports Med Internship for the Cal Football team this past week and it's been the best break from MCAT studying ever.
THE JOB
So far I've been doing a lot of icing, wrapping, ultrasounding, electrical stimulation, making ice bags, giving water, bandaids, etc. I've been working at this training room right by Memorial Stadium, helping the players before, after, and during practice. Saw some pretty nasty injuries so far- this one dude had a fist-sized blister, and this other dude got stitches from practice on monday from running up the bleachers and slipping, landing on his shin (hilariously funny but OUCH). I'm currently learning how to tape feet correctly- there's an art to it that I hope to master by the end of the season.
CO-WORKERS
My co-workers are pretty awesome as well. Very chill people, easy to talk to and fun to be around. One of them is jovial little filipino girl, who has a squeaky demeanor that matches her 14 year old looking face. Another is a tall asian dude who is easy to carry on a fun conversation with. Another girl who has been doing this job for 2 years has a funny bone by nature and always makes funny comments. There's a sassy asian girl who is really considerate and sweet- but one that you know not to get on the bad side of. Then there's Stephen, who was smart enough to join this program after we both heard about it at our winter externship last year. The athletic trainers are funny- already started taking advantage of my apparent gullible-ness (what is the adjective for that word). My immediate boss looks super serious, although I know he has a good sense of humor by the comments he makes. He's a good down- to- business guy who watches out for us.
THE PLAYERS
Are free entertainment. At first I was sort of intimidated to talk to them but they are hilarious. Yesterday one farted really loudly on the field and everyone started looking around saying "wasn't me..." haha. Just today, one of them was complaining about how he was too big to be allowed on the water slide at the water park he went to. Collectively, him and one of his other football player friends had exceeded the weight limit that was set for a slide we wanted to go to-by 200 or so pounds. Although heroic in suit and on the field, they just your normal average human being off the field. For the most part they are well intentioned, nice people (although rough around the edges). They ask me questions about myself during treatments and like to carry on jokes. One of them even yanked my ponytail during practice and walked away innocently when I asked if it was him. I am naturally gravitating towards this link during my study breaks, so I can get faster at matching names with faces:
THE FOOOOOOOD
I was not aware of this at all before- but they feed us. boy do they feed us. Whatever shift we're working, we can get meals when the football players do. And let me tell you, it puts crossroads and cafe 3 to shame. On my first day, I had a chipotle sized burrito, salad, and ravioli...BEST meal I've eaten all week. And it's SO much that I always have a leftover box to bring home. This is only expected, of course, since the football players have gigantic appetites to match their body size. Right after I finished dinner on Monday I was putting my dishes away when I saw a cafeteria lady walk by, setting up cereal on the serving table. When I asked her if she was getting ready for breakfast the next day, she laughed and replied "this is for their after dinner snack" I LOL-ed. Boy do they have it good here. Right now they are at the Claremont hotel, swimming in their swimming pool. Lucky dudes.
Speaking of food though- I'm pretty sure I've put on at least 5 lbs since coming to Berk last week. Living with boys for a few days + eating out with friends means I've had pizza 3 times in the past 5 days. Plus, eating with the football players pretty much= eating like the football players. I would actually really like to just eat a healthy salad sometime soon... I'm a little sick of heavy meals
THE GAME
In the past week my knowledge of football has increased 100fold. Here are the basics of what I know (very elementary, please don't judge)
OFFENSE:
Offensive line- Protects QB
QB- gets ball after hike, throws to either wide receiver, running back, or tied end. <--(lol. just found out it's spelled "tight" end)
Whoever catches the ball has to run it to the other side in order to score a touchdown.
"Backs" (3): Quarterback, Full back and Tail back
DEFENSE:
Defensive Line: Tries to get to the QB and beat the crap out of him. Blocked by the O-line
Line Backers: yeah not sure what these guys do
Safety: Makes sure O-line doesn't pass them...
FORGIVE ME I AM STILL LEARNING!
SO TO SUM IT UP.. I have been pretty much either studying or helping out the football team since I got here on Sat, and am fairly content to keep it that way until Sept 3. TILL NEXT TIME BLOGGIE,
-me
