Weekly reflection #2

This week has been phenomenal, I have been able to gain so much clinical experience so much in what feels like such a short time. Dr. Shinitzky and I have done so much this week. The opportunities I have had are life-changing, the knowledge, insight, and wisdom I have obtained this week have placed me in a great position. I was able to shadow, Dr. Lodato, meet with Paris Figure skaters, talk on the phone with James Schwabach, and many other elite junior athletes.

Early in the week,  I was able to have a phone call with James Schwebach, he is the Tampa Bay Rays mental Conditioning coach. I was nervous and excited at the same time. I was able to ask him a few questions. My questions were as follows: How do you work with athletes that have explosive emotions? What steps do you take? How do they recenter themselves and go back to competing at a high level? Also, what made you want to be a mental Conditioning coach. These questions were important to me and I wanted to to get insight from a future college. He answered my questions and gave me so great advice. He told me to look for job experience and reach to people. The worst someone could say is “No”. I really appreciated that because he showed me that opportunities are tangible for all people, no matter who you are reaching out to. Most people are willing to help you out. They are human enough to understand that you are in search of experience. This was one of the best pieces of advice I have received while on senior project.

As I moved throughout the week Dr. Shinitzky and I talked about my research paper that I started working on earlier. He suggested that I share it with Lynne and himself in order to get feedback. It's always important to get feedback and see if there are any major areas I need to hit on. This paper was a key stepping stone in my knowledge. It's important for me that I do a thorough job on this to ensure I can succeed with the business side of Sports Psychology.

We then discussed posting my videos on the Facebook page and how that was to be regulated. Dr. Shinitzky wants to incorporate my research on his page. This page allowed others to have access to all the videos I found. I wanted the seal of approval from Dr. Shinitzky on all my videos to make sure its the best information out there. I want to ensuring that the athletes are getting the best. So I asked him to post the videos and feel free to add anything he wanted to them. Dr. Shinitzky then suggested that I make my own video. He wanted me to show all of the things that I learned and explain the important topic throughout the video. This will give athletes in my age group insight from one of their own. It would be a eye opening experience to see someone your age expressing the importance of mental conditioning/ sports psychology.

My goal is to also establish relationships with potential future colleges and look for opportunities for the future. With that being said I am respecting that I have been given a great privilege to shadow some of the top professionals in this field.  As I work through this, I am able to grow my knowledge and network. Networking in incredibly valuable in today's world and having a strong base and foundation in which to work off is very useful. I am incredibly thankful that Dr. Shinitzky set up these opportunities because they are helping me to lay down a foundation to succeed in the present and future! He has also provided me a network of resources that I can reach out to and get expert advance and wisdom from the network he has helped me establish. I look forward to next week!