The Exponential Factor

Rhonda Boyd, M.Ed., Instructor and Social Media Coordinator

Last fall we embarked on a new series to educate potential students, counselors, parents, the general public on ALL the many different things you can do with a degree in Kinesiology. I never thought when this series started that it would be become so huge and be so popular!

Over the past ten months we have featured 30 blogs contributed by faculty and our wonderful alumni. The blog series has had almost 5200 views with over 3800 visitors. The blog itself has had over 13,000 views with over 9,600 direct visitors since it began in 2017. Thank you to everyone who has contributed, read, followed and shared these stories. It is our hope that it has shed light on just a fraction of the careers a student can pursue once they complete their undergraduate work in Kinesiology.

In case you missed one of the blogs or if you are a new reader here is the list in the series:
Kinesiology? What Is It and What Can I Do With It?
Smiley Reeves: Clinical Exercise Physiologist
Katie Alexander: Ph.D/College Professor
Christopher Watson: Sports Performance
Junhai Xu: Follow Your Heart and Keep Running!
Stephanie Smart: Athletic Training
Alison Richter: Health Coaching
Tamara Childers Canales: Health Coaching
Lacey Deal: Be Who You Needed When You Were Young
Vishesh Singh: Human Performance Laboratories Managing Director (all the cool stuff)
Andrew Parks: Sport and Exercise Psychology
Jordan Blazo: From Insight to Impact: MiML’s Trailblazing Research Adventure
Thaddeus Light: Tech Consultant
Daniel Johnson: Military Cognitive Training
Dee Flemming: Business Development/Therapy Awareness Manager – Boston Scientific Deep Brain Stimulation
Tyler Griggers: Medical Device Sales – Stryker Trauma and Extremities Division
Jesse Wendt: Cardiac Rhythm Management
Dylan Snowden: Global Trainer with PROCEPT BioRobotics
Annie Crain Johnson: Ceritified Prosthetist/Orthotist
Kaila Manshack: Chiropractic
Aaron Gootzeit: Rugby to Rehabilitation and Performance Chiropractic
Bobby Gragston: NFL Assistant Athletic Trainer/Physical Therapist
Taylor Stahly Reed: Women’s Basketball Coaching
Stine Emrick: Strength and Conditioning Coach
Nick Fulco: Business Owner and Sports Physical Therapist
Alex Paille: Track and Field Coach
Matt Thorne: Collegiate Athletics Administration
Joshua Sparks: Contract Senior Research Physiologist at Leidos
William Sanders: Physician
Jeremy Sutton: Concierge Physical Therapy and Wellness

We will be taking a break over the summer and will start this series back in the fall. Stay tuned for many more exciting, unique and rewarding careers that can be achieved with a degree in Kinesiology. If you are interested in a specific career that we have covered and would like more information please email me at rboyd@latech.edu and I can give you the contact information for the individual that wrote the blog so that you can communicate with them directly. We have so many amazing alumni that are making a difference in people’s lives on a daily basis. If any alum is reading this and would like to write a blog for the next series please do not hesitate to contact me by text at 318-243-0985 or by email rboyd@latech.edu. I would love to share your story to inspire up and coming students to become passionate about their career choice!

Have a great summer!
Rhonda Boyd

Jeremy Sutton, B.S. Kinesiology and Health Promotion (Clinical Track), 2004
Doctorate of Physical Therapy (DPT) – University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences
(St. Augustine Campus 2009)

My name is Jeremy Sutton and I am from Arcadia, LA. My love for physical therapy began when I injured my leg playing football at the age of 15. I was fortunate enough to meet one of my PT heroes then, Danni Jones. She made such an impression on me that I knew from then on that I wanted to be a physical therapist. I enrolled at Louisiana Tech in 2000 and by 2001 I was working as a physical therapy technician at Green Clinic in Ruston. I was very fortunate to learn how to actually be a physical therapist before I learned the why behind the treatments we use every day to help people reach their potential. 

During my sophomore year at Louisiana Tech, I worked a ton of hours and my grades started to suffer. By the end of that year, I realized I was not going to make it in my education experience if I kept working the hours I was during the week. Thankfully, I had some not-so-gentle mentoring from a veteran PT who told me to make better grades or else. I decreased my hours working and started focusing more on my education. 

I graduated with a 3.1 GPA, so I struggled to get into physical therapy school in-state. By the end of my senior year at Tech I decided to move to Texas to get a Master’s degree for strength and conditioning. I moved to Wichita Falls, Texas for that degree. After about 1 month there I knew I wanted to go back to my original plan of becoming a physical therapist. I moved back to Ruston and began applying to physical therapy schools again and was accepted into St. Augustine. 

I moved to St. Augustine, Florida in April of 2006. This was the 2nd time in a year I had moved out of state for my education. To be honest, I really struggled being away from home and went through monthly phases of doubting whether or not I should be a PT or not. I also struggled in PT school with my grades. I actually had to retake 2 classes and graduated about 6 months later than I should have. This caused me great stress and I struggled with depression and had a really difficult time during my last year of PT school. 

I’m including my struggles in this as well as my successes, because I want people to know that you can go through difficult times and still be successful. In fact, I don’t know too many people who have not failed in life that are successful now. If you’re not failing, you may not be trying. 

Initially, I wanted to be a pediatric physical therapist, but after treating my first 10 year old with an orthopedic injury I knew I wasn’t cut out for that work. Instead, most of my career has been focused on adults and even more so on the geriatric population. My career started out back in Ruston at what was then, HealthSouth. After being back in Ruston for a few months I started dating my wife, Monica, and moved to Bossier City, where we lived for 14 years before moving to Benton, La. 

I worked full time at a few outpatient orthopedic clinics, while also working PRN at home health agencies, nursing homes, and hospitals. In 2016, my wife and I purchased a physical therapy clinic in Vivian, La. After a couple of years, we closed that business. 

While working as a physical therapist over the years, I have become interested in many different areas. My biggest regret about my time at Louisiana Tech is that I didn’t love learning or have the work ethic that I do now. Being a physical therapist has opened many doors for me over the years. I have been able to become a podcaster, an author, and a speaker thanks to my educational background. 

Not only have I become an author, but I have been able to help over 100 other healthcare professionals write and self-publish books that have helped them reach thousands and grow their businesses. Through my interests in self-publishing, business, and marketing I have been able to speak at multiple PT events, and even one hosted in Ireland. The only problem is that the event in Ireland was during COVID, so I missed an opportunity to travel. 

I hope that I have shown that an education from Louisiana Tech University can open many doors as long as you keep moving forward and stay resilient. Something I once heard from someone during my time in Ruston was that I would never be taken seriously or make a difference in this world due to my southern accent and because I am from a small town. My encouragement to you is that I have been able to self-publish and help others self-publish multiple books. I have podcasts that have been downloaded on every continent. My degree has enabled me to be with people during their most difficult moments and see them reach their highest goals. I have been able to laugh, cry, and pray with people in crucial moments of their lives. 

I am currently in the process of building a new business, Healthy SBC in Bossier City and getting a charity up and running, Senior Day. Healthy SBC is a concierge physical therapy and wellness business serving Shreveport and Bossier City. Senior Day is a charity geared towards taking senior citizens on adventures to enjoy the things in life they feel they cannot do anymore. I have been able to combine my skills as a PT and my desire for ministry to serve people thanks to my personal experiences and educational background.

No matter who you are or where you’re from, you can make a difference in this world if you stay committed to what you have been put on this earth to accomplish. 

Keep Moving Forward!

William Sanders, DO Kinesiology and Health Promotion (2011)

My name is Will Sanders. I am from Monroe, LA. I just turned 35 (unbelievable), and I am a physician practicing internal medicine- more specifically, as hospitalist- in Greenville, SC. I have fond memories of LA Tech, both because i genuinely liked a lot of my coursework, and because being 18-early 20s is just a great time to be alive. I started out majoring in Biology and ended up switching to Kinesiology sometime halfway through. My original freshman plans and dreams were broad, but I landed on the possible thought of “how can I go to medical school and be some sort of muscle doctor?” I had eventually changed plans to work my way into going to physical therapy school when I made the switch to Kinesiology. The reason this seemed a perfect fit was because I always enjoyed sports and working out, and this eventually piqued my interest in the human body itself. I wanted to learn more about what was actually happening on the inside. Fortunately, I had wonderful professors at LA Tech and wouldn’t change that at all. I was able to marry my interest of health and fitness with the science of anatomy, physiology, and biomechanics. After graduating in 2011, I had a bit more free time to think about what I wanted to do with my life. I actually was accepted into a PT school in San Diego, CA in 2012, with plans to attend the following year, as is customary. I was excited, as I had never been out of our south/east region very much (with the exception of meeting my future wife, Mari, at Tech; she is from Brazil.) 

I deliberated on maybe trying to get a school closer to family versus just going ahead to San Diego as planned. As time went on, I kept getting second guesses and doubts about what i was doing. I wondered if I just didn’t want to go to San Diego and be far from family, or if i knew what I was really doing at all. Sometimes it’s hard to reconcile what seems best on paper with one’s gut feeling. In a blurred series of events, I eventually tried to get closer to Louisiana, so I tried to switch to the same school (University of St. Augustine, which I’m sure has had plenty of Tech grads). I was told it may be possible but that I would have to go on a waitlist to see. During that time I thought long and hard about my initial thoughts about medical school and the opportunities it could provide. I eventually called the school and withdrew my acceptance, only to start attending post bachelor studies, again, at LA Tech. I had to retake a lot of classes in which I had done poorly. The only classes that I had to add to my existing Kinesiology curriculum were Biochemistry and Organic Chemistry. I made all A’s for the next 2 school years and brought my GPA up significantly. Roll the clock forward to 2013 summer and I studied long and intensely for several months for the MCAT. There was a different scoring system at that time, so I won’t bother giving the score out. It was decently average. I went on interviews to any medical school that would offer me in the US (nothing against Carribean schools; that route just wasn’t feasible for me). I eventually was accepted into PCOM in Atlanta. It turns out that a few years later, a medical school started in my hometown. I was glad that I missed out on it though, because I’m not sure I would have found Greenville had I not gone to Atlanta. However, there is always a special place in my heart for Ruston, LA. 

With that long-winded premise, I aimed to make a point that most anyone can get into medical school with the right amount of effort and discipline. I will be more brief going forward. Medical school (there are two types in the US: the curricula are mostly the same, with the exception of an added class for DO students, which is Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine). It is usually 4 years. I initially thought- similar to my previous thoughts about becoming a “muscle doctor”- that I would go into something orthopedic-related. The muscle doctor field is actually a real thing, by the way. It is a niche specialty called Physiatry (not Psychiatry) and I thought it would be great for me. I also thought orthopedics would be great, but I ruled out surgery as an option in 3rd year.

Usually, in medical school, you do the first two years as course work. The bulk of 1st year is usually crude fundamental courses like anatomy cadaver labs and other sciences like biochemistry, embryology, and other basics like pharmacology and pathology/histology littered throughout. I will say ,without a doubt, that Kinesiology allowed me to have a leg up with a lot of the terminology in anatomy with respect to naming certain structures like muscles, bones, and biomechanical movements like supination/pronation. I specifically remember learning about heart physiology in a clinical kinesiology course taught at Tech. I remember being fascinated by it, so the material stuck, and it helped me even during medical school. During 2nd year, the gears change. Most people hate the second year because it usually leads into the hardest exam of an American doctor’s life: everyone will remember “STEP 1”, probably forever. More on that later. As second year progresses, one learns a lot about the different systems of the body and their functions. 

As I said before, I started to understand that I would like a field where I could apply the things I liked in medical school, which was pathophysiology in the various organs of the body. As such, I did end up pursuing a career in internal medicine. In the summer between second and third year, one studies intensely for the STEP 1 exam. It is the hardest test in medicine, but if I can do well on it, anyone can. Generally it requires 1-3 months of regular studying, but everyone is different. However, when that is over, you generally don’t have to worry about the next two STEP exams, because they are much easier.

In third year of medical school, one branches out and finally gets a taste of the real world. This is a time where the student steps out of the lecture hall, lab, or small actor patient simulation experience and into the real hospital or clinic. I enjoyed some parts of third year and disliked others, naturally. One goes through all the specialties, from pediatrics to geriatrics, from surgery to family medicine and OBGYN. A good approach to steer you in the right direction early on would be to determine if you can live without working with your hands in an operating room. You will probably read other people saying this on other media or fora, such as “The Student Doctor Network.” I utilized this network a ton in my preparation to becoming a doctor. The knowledge gained in that forum is invaluable. So, back to third year.  Once you finish deciding whether or not you want to operate, you can basically divide your interests in half. Personally i liked some things about surgery, but I disliked most of them. I don’t enjoy standing in one spot for hours on end. I like to move and walk around. Everyone is different. Then, if you can decide whether you want to care for kids and/or adolescents, that’s another tick to check. I love kids, but I always knew working with them was not for me. I was also never interested in OBGYN other than the physiology aspect of it, which I did find truly fascinating in the former medical school years. After this process of elimination, there are a few choices left (provided you found that you didn’t want to be in the OR on the other side of the curtain, i.e. being an Anesthesiologist). Do you like neurology? That may be for you. Do you like the emergency room? Or do you like a bit more time to think through the pathophysiology and come up with a diagnosis? This was me. Therefore, I chose Internal Medicine.

Moving on to fourth year, one cannot understate the elation of finishing boards and moving on to the last year. I took my second STEP exam just before starting fourth year, to get it out of the way. The last year consists of doing mainly elective rotations in things you like or may never get to do. Let’s be honest, you have done most of the hard work already. You are ready to get geared up for residency interviews. So, I scheduled easier rotations for that year. I even did an elective rotation in the field that I mentioned earlier in this discussion, in physiatry. It is a great field, but there was too much neurology for me and I didn’t like the idea of doing the outpatient musculoskeletal and pain work. I was glad to see how it was like though.

Moving into fall of the fourth year, you will have already sent out your centralized residency application. Don’t stress out about this process. You are happy to be doing that instead of grinding in the hospital as you did in third year. After those get sent out in late summer of third and into fourth year,  you start fourth year and do a few rotations. As fall approaches, you start to get residency interviews. They are fun. You get to take a break from whatever rotation you are on and travel to wherever you were invited. It’s similar to applying to medical school, but it’s easier. There is nobody to convince that you do, in fact, want to become a doctor. It is more straightforward. They just want to make sure you can be relatively “normal,” whatever that means. (and it is okay if these situations are uncomfortable or even seemingly impossible. I am aware that we do have a sizable number of doctors on the autism spectrum or who have other general medical problems that make interviews difficult. However, I always enjoyed interviews. I’m not Mr. social Butterfly, but once you get that one interview down, it’s like muscle memory and practice. They ask the same questions. Just be honest and it will go well.

I interviewed at several places. My favorite program was actually just a few hours away from Atlanta, where I was doing medical school. It was in Greenville, South Carolina. I had never been there, but I am glad I interviewed there because I am still here, and I do not plan on moving again!

Internal medicine residency consists of 3 years. The intern year is getting used to the flow of having more responsibility as a doctor in a hospital, but also not knowing ANYTHING and being let known that fact, in a variety of ways that will build character. The hours are hard, but not impossible. Good programs are reasonable with hours, and mine was. You want it to be hard at first, so that for the rest of your career, “hard” is not really hard. I can tell you that intern year is the hardest, physically, intellectually, emotionally. I was in awe of some of my co residents who had their first kid as an intern. I don’t know how they did it. During intern year, you do basic general medicine, inpatient (in the hospital) and outpatient (in a clinic). I enjoyed the clinic to a degree, but I liked the hospital more. You also do some specialty rotations in cardiology, gastroenterology, neurology (for exposure, not for the possibility of becoming a neurologist.), rheumatology, hematology/oncology, nephrology. I went into residency with the idea that I would become a gastroenterologist. I enjoyed gastrophysiology in college and in medical school. It turns out that theory and practice can be different. I learned that the GI doctors at my residency were extremely overworked and did colonoscopies almost every day. To me, it led me back to my rationale for not wanting to become a surgeon. I didn’t want to stand in one spot and operate for a long time. Then I realized I could do a lot of non-operative GI diagnosing and treating by being a general internist. The same concept applied to all other specialties! I could diagnose and treat heart failure-something which I love to do-without having to do heart catheterizations or other procedures. I could diagnose the large variety of kidney pathologies without having to focus so much on running dialysis programs. I started to gravitate towards a career in hospital medicine.

In your second year of Internal medicine (IM) residency, you start to develop more leadership skills. You are able to run a team with interns working under you. You help them do their daily tasks and talk to problems, diagnoses, and treatment plans. The highest doctor in the group, the attending, will lead the whole group, but the second year resident is essentially the team leader. Third year is not really different. You are more skilled and efficient. You are likely presenting talks for lunch and learn activities and possibly even presenting posters for regional or national organizations as part of your residency requirements, or in preparation for fellowship applications. Fellowship is the last point in medical graduate education. It is where you specialize in the aforementioned specialties like cardiology, GI, hematology/oncology, etc. You typically apply at the end of second year of residency and you get your acceptances in December of third year. I did not apply for a fellowship because I decided to become a hospitalist.

A hospitalist remains in the hospital and does not typically work in a clinic. Long ago, a more traditional practice included going to the hospital in the morning and rounding on one’s patients, then heading to the clinic in the late morning and afternoon. This type of practice is referred to as an internist and is not as common these days. As a hospitalist, there are many different programs and types of schedules. I have the most common one where the hospitalist works one week on and one week off, typically 7 days and 12 hour shifts. There are caveats that allow one to leave earlier in the day so that it is much more palatable.

I arrive at the hospital at 7AM on Tuesday (there’s a nuanced reason why we start the week on Tuesday. I pick up the pager (yes the little black thing from the 1980s and 90s) and go sit down at my special little secret spot where I can’t be bothered for a while. I open the computer and the electronic medical record of my patient list. I typically will have anywhere from 14-20 patients on any given start. Littered throughout the day, I typically have 2-3 admissions, which is admitting new patients from the Emergency room to the hospital. I do all my chart reviewing from about 7:15 to 8:30 or 9. Tuesdays take the longest because you are typically learning a whole new list of patients. As the week goes on, you are more efficient. At 7PM I leave. Then I rinse and repeat, and Monday is my last day of the week. I work in shifts, and therefore, you can consider me never “on call.” I work half the year and fortunately hospitalists in the southeast typically get paid reasonably well. If I want to make a little more money, I can work extra shifts as well during my off week. The types of conditions I diagnose and treat range greatly and are very broad. I treat heart attacks, heart failure, bloodstream infections, gastrointestinal bleeding, liver and kidney failure, pneumonia, meningitis, strokes, and a vast plethora of other non-surgical conditions. I enjoy the variety, but of course I have my favorites. I enjoy heart failure and other arrhythmias like atrial fibrillation because there are multifaceted approaches to their treatments.

Most importantly in this journey is never forgetting where you started. That may sound cliche, but I’m serious. I can remember specifically times earlier in my college years where I thought I was extremely busy because I had a paper to write. How funny now to think of that as being busy. You may think the same, but as you grow, you realize you are far more capable than you think. You may even fantasize about taking your 30 year old brain and mind and transplanting it to your 19 year old self. The things which you could accomplish are unending.

Joking aside though, I can remember these times, thinking ‘my gosh, this is hard, but I am going to put my head down and enjoy the journey, wherever it takes me. I’m going to work hard and trust the process, and I will be able to move to wherever I want and do whatever I want in life.” This is true. I have a great job, a wonderful family, a wife and two young kids. I am busier than I will ever be in life, but I am happy to do it. The journey is as important as the destination. The strengths you pick up along the way allow you to fine tune and expand your horizons to other outlets you may have never thought of before (think hobbies, investments, etc). I hope you enjoy your journey as well.

Remember, as a stressed student, you will always look back at previous years and laugh, thinking you weren’t really “that busy,” or that material wasn’t really “that hard.” Or maybe you didn’t have to spend that much time on it. It’s all about balance. It can become a psychological tendency to feel as if you just imprison yourself at a desk- even if you aren’t actively studying- then the universe will reward your sacrifice with a better grade. Please don’t let yourself do this. Anytime you recognize that you aren’t engaged in your studying, you may as well stop and take a break, because added time will not improve the efficiency or quality. The best time to practice this is during college. If you can perfect this, you will have a much easier time in medical school and beyond. I am telling you this because I have fallen into that trap. Thinking if I was the last to leave the study hall or exam hall, somehow that would help. It may, but only if for the right reasons. Study smart and as hard as you can, but don’t waste time. You need to find a way to have balance and enjoy the present as well, because training is hard. No amount of reading material (and yes I read a ton of pre med memoir books…we all do. It’s basically a rite of passage and it gets you in “that mode”) can fully prepare you for the road, which is a long one, but a fulfilling one. Good luck. I will include a “tl;dr” version below, with my specific timeline, and generalized timelines as well.

Tl;dr:

1. 4 years of college (usually, though some can be done in 3)
2. Apply to medical school after taking the MCAT in your junior year. Major in anything you like, as most of college is not especially helpful for the rigors of medical school.
3. Enjoy your senior year and summer after college.
4. 4 years of medical school (DO, MD, or Caribbean MD). Some schools have a family medicine fast track for 3 years.
5. Anywhere from 3 years (emergency, IM, or FM) residency training. (up to 7 years if neurosurgery.
6. Fellowship training for any number of years. (you can subspecialize in cardiology after finishing an Internal medicine residency, and then you can even further subspecialize into things like imaging, interventional procedures, electrophysiology, etc).
7. Start your career. Enjoy life.

Please feel free to email me at wsanders@srhs.com for any questions or advice. Thank you. William Sanders, DO, ABIM.

Joshua R. Sparks, Ph.D., EP-C

M.S. from the Department of Kinesiology in 2012

What can I say? I never imagined that this is the point my life would lead up to. From the outside looking in, you would get the sense that this is what I always wanted to be. A contract Senior Research Physiologist working within industry at Leidos, one of the largest biotechnology and national security companies in the world. It’s a dream come true, but not a dream I knew I had. A recent special called The Dreamer by Dave Chappelle, yes, the comedian, reminded me of a very powerful quote, If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. This is the story of how my dream, up to this point, has unfolded. Don’t fret, I am still dreaming.

For starters, I am not supposed to be in the position I am today, at least not given my background and upbringing. I am from a small farm community outside of Shreveport, LA. My father was a 3^rd shift janitor at General Motors and my mom was an elementary school teacher. They divorced whenever I was young and, with my mom and two sisters, moved in with our grandparents. This instilled the concept of hard work to achieve your goals, but also the untold skill of resilience and perseverance in the presence of obstacles and obscurity. The drive to strive to improve myself and to earn my seat at the table was, needless to say, developed at a young age. However, this time also taught me compassion and understanding, while also guiding me to want to help others who may face similar or worse circumstances.

Throughout my childhood into adolescence and my young adulthood, I did decent in school, never excelling, but also never failing. Sitting at the upper echelon on mediocre, despite the amount of time and effort placed into academics. So, comes with the territory of having ADHD and dyslexia, but it never impeded on my ability to effectively learn. Where I always excelled, however, was when it came to athletics and, importantly, work. It would have been amazing if the two coalesced together to allow for athletics to be my primary occupation. Yet, this did not happen, or not in the traditional sense at least.

Following high school, I attended Louisiana Tech University for Mechanical Engineering. It was my dream, at the time, to work with numbers and equations, and help build structures that would stand the test of time. If I had completed that degree, I would have been a mechanical engineer for over 15 years now. Rather than complete my degree, following a few contentious months in my undergraduate career, I dropped out of school. I did what I knew best, I worked, obtaining employment as a construction worker utilizing established skills and learning new tricks and trades aligning with my previous passion of mechanical engineering. Understanding the importance of the work I was performing, but also recognizing that my dream was not being fulfilled, I went back to school, transferring to the University of Louisiana at Monroe. This is where I found my passion for kinesiology and exercise science. A new dream began to unfold.

At the University of Louisiana at Monroe I was introduced to several clinical instructors with a passion for exercise science, specifically cardiac rehabilitation, which was my indoctrination to exercise prescription in a variety of populations, particularly those with chronic disease. I was afforded the opportunity to serve as an undergraduate teaching assistant for entry-level exercise science and anatomy and physiology courses, train in the human performance laboratory to hone my skills, and assist graduate students and faculty with their ongoing research projects. I began to develop my own interests, which led me to presenting a research poster at the regional Southeast Amercian College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) Conference, earn credentialing as an ACSM certified exercise physiologist, and be honored with an undergraduate research award. This ultimately culminated in a clinical internship at a local Cardiac Rehabilitation clinic and graduation with my degree in 2010. Another dream comes true.

Following my undergraduate graduation and completion of my clinical exercise science internship, I was offered to continue my position part-time in the cardiac rehabilitation clinic, which was located in Ruston. I was at a colloquial fork in the road as I desired to continue my education rather than immediately jump into the job market. My dream, at this time, was to head a cardiac rehabilitation clinic, and the lead exercise physiologist of my internship, as well as my undergraduate instructors insisted that a graduate education was necessary. Although I had applied, and was accepted to multiple graduate programs, including Auburn, Tennessee, and Texas, as examples, I returned to Louisiana Tech University, to work with the faculty and staff in the Department of Kinesiology, as well as maintain my position as a part-time exercise physiologist. This career path is a bit adjacent from the common path sought from those who attend Louisian Tech University for their graduate degree, but I had unfinished business, desired my degree from Louisiana Tech University, and knew I would gain quality experience and receive a top-notch education along the way. Unexpectedly, due to downsizing, I was relieved of my duties as a part-time exercise physiologist prior to beginning my graduate education. I had to switch gears and pursue a graduate assistantship within the Department of Kinesiology to support my education, while still allowing for appreciable experience towards my goal. I instructed the immensely fun and exciting activity courses, such as aerobic running and fitness, and met many wonderful students along the way that made my educational experience that much more fulfilled. I was also able to serve as a teaching assistant for several upper-level kinesiology courses, which taught me the value of being in front of a classroom and speaking with others about their career goals and ambitions. My most lasting friendships came from this time.

As I neared completion of my graduate degree, I needed to make another decision. Would I continue to pursue a career path as a clinical exercise physiologist and, if so, how do I attain that goal? I never lived outside of the 1.5-hour stretch along the I-20 corridor in North Louisiana. However, it became clear that I would need to be willing to at least travel outside of the region to obtain a desired position. To put things into perspective, I was slated to graduate in August 2012 and had no prospects in my initial job search other than odd jobs I had already established with fitness and recreational facilities. August turned to September, September to October, and October to November, I am sure you all get the idea. Nothing other than a few phone call interviews due to regional limitations and inability to travel to most interviews without some sort of financial assistance (graduate students don’t make much money 😊). However, I persisted. A position posting came live for an Exercise Physiologist at Duke University Medical Center in their cardiology clinic. I was grossly underqualified for the position, but they had a contact name and number listed with the position posting. I engaged with the appropriate point-of-contact, discussed my background and training, as well as my short- and long-term goals, and the work I would be willing to put in if afforded the opportunity to work in such a position. This discussion resonated well with them. I was invited to complete an in-person interview in early December 2012. I didn’t dare tell them I couldn’t afford it or turn it down. We set the date and I drove up the night before to save on hotel, food, etc… performed the interview, and drove back to Louisiana right after. It was an exhausting trip, but worth it. Turned out this was a bit of a test from them. To see if I was willing to make things work for a quick turnaround interview process. Every other candidate was internal, I was the sole external candidate interviewed. Never let anyone tell you that cold calling or being persistent for job postings will lead to nothing in the digital age. I still engage more with colleagues in real-time via phone call and video chat than I do through email. I digress, although I had impressed and passed their “test”, I was still underqualified for the position. However, the hiring manager made me a proposition. Prove to them that I could perform the essential duties of the position, be prepared to move to North Carolina and begin the position in January (<1 month from interview), and, if certain conditions were met, they would promote me into the position once I was proficient. I started as a Cardiology Technician, within 3 months was promoted to an Exercise Physiologist, and within the first year as Lead Exercise Physiologist. The dream was finally becoming a reality!

Durham, NC and Duke University Medical Center was a dream in and of itself. Living in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, <2 hours from world class hiking and beaches, all while working with world-renowned cardiology experts, and gaining new experience in pulmonary and environmental physiology. The hands-on experiences within Duke University Medical Center were second to none and allowed for credentialing and licensing that would allow for me to eventually lead my own cardiac rehabilitation. After I had been at Duke University Medical Center for ~8-9 months, I was approached about a part-time position as an exercise physiologist at the Duke Center for Living, leading their weekend cardiac rehabilitation exercise classes. I pinched myself, this couldn’t be real, could it? I interviewed for the position, and it went extremely well. During my interview process, I was introduced to a Principal Investigator centrally located at the Duke Molecular Physiology Institute, but peripherally located at the Duke Center for Living. He expressed he was in need of an exercise physiologist on the main and satellite campuses I was already affiliated with. The position was still part-time, meaning I could continue to perform my current position unimpeded, located at clinics I was already attending, the pay was more competitive, I didn’t have to work weekends, and the growth trajectory was much higher. After attending a few lab meetings about the ongoing research projects, I would be affiliated it, it became a no brainer that this position offered so much more. Little did I know it would once again, alter my dream and career path.

Over the next 3 months, I found myself enjoying the research side of exercise physiology more so than the clinical side. Not to say that I was losing passion for the clinic, but the research side allowed for more creativity, further questions to be asked, the implications of what I was performing in the clinic on a larger scale, the list could go on and on. In speaking with a few of the research staff, specifically the PhD-level research staff, they found my questions compelling and potentially worthy of academically answering. I was informed that if I wanted to perform my own independent research projects to answer these questions, I would need to seek additional training and education. Essentially, I needed to leave Duke University Medical Center, something I did not imagine I would do, to chase my new dream, to become an independent research scientist focused on the physiological benefits of exercise on the cardiovascular system.

This may surprise some of you, but Duke University does not offer a graduate degree in exercise science, at least not in 2013/2014. Although NC State University (Raleigh) offered a MS degree (one I already possessed) and UNC-Chapel Hill had an outstanding PhD program, I wanted to specifically work within cardiovascular exercise physiology to maximize my PhD. I began to hunt and search for mentors who would help oversee and guide my training, that would provide me the opportunity to immediately leverage my existing knowledge, skills, and abilities, while also being located at a world class institute known for its academics. I literally spent countless hours and days researching university after university. I was already late to the application party, so I needed to act quick. Geographic location was not a limitation. I finally decided on the three I would principally apply to, UNC-Greensboro, Baylor University, and the University of South Carolina. Each met my desired qualifications, and I was happy they were regionally familiar. I, once again, reached out to appropriate point-of-contacts, cold called professors I was interested in working with, told them I didn’t want to wait to begin my academic journey any later than August 2014, if possible, and rattled off why I was an investment and not a gamble. This approach worked again; I had three scheduled interviews within 2 weeks of each other with professors I desired to work with. If I am being completely honest, Baylor University was my first choice, and I was offered acceptance into their PhD program. This decision was nearly a foregone conclusion as I already knew 1 student in the PhD program who would only be a year ahead of me. If Baylor would have gone third in my interview process, I may have graduated a Bear. However, something unexpected happened.

When I was scheduling my interview for the University of South Carolina, the professor I wanted to work with confessed that he did not perform in-lab research any longer and was, more or less, a guiding light for students who want to gain experience in teaching from a researcher’s perspective. The honesty was refreshing, but I nearly cancelled my interview. I enjoyed teaching, yet I wasn’t pursuing a PhD to primarily teach. However, he told me there was a newly hired professor, someone he hand-picked to be offered a position in the department, and someone he felt would equally benefit from me as I would from her. He asked for a day to speak with her and would get back to me. Rather than hearing from him, I received a phone call from my future mentor. She had a funded exercise trial and needed someone with training and expertise in clinical exercise science. Check mark 1. She had plans for other research studies that I could lead and be a part of that would advance my education past exercise science. Check mark 2. She promised she would help fulfill my goals to the best of her ability, and, if she could not, guaranteed she would ensure availability to someone else who could provide that training. Check mark 3. I was also told that I would receive extensive training in teaching working with the original professor I hoped to perform research with. In Louisiana, we call that lagniappe. Rather than accept the position at Baylor University, or UNC-Greensboro, I was offered and accepted the PhD position at the University of South Carolina. Now garnet and black runs through my veins and I will forever be a Gamecock, in addition to a Warhawk and a Bulldog.

A PhD came across as simple when the idea was originally proposed to me at Duke University Medical Center. Afterall, I already had 2 degrees in exercise science, experience as a clinical exercise physiologist, and came with ideas that required addressing, at least in my own mind. Lessons on this, some you may know (if you have read this far): PhDs are hard, and the first 2 years are traditionally spent integrating yourself into the lab and working on research projects, instructing undergraduate and graduate courses, and taking additional coursework to build your cognate, or intellectual focus, you wish your PhD to progress in to. As my mentor was a relatively new hire, I had to split my research time between her and other Principal Investigator projects to gain the desired research experience. To pay for my PhD, I had to teach courses with over 250 undergraduate students (the University of South Carolina has over 35000 students). To define my cognate, which I established as Applied Physiology and Human Metabolism, I enrolled in medical courses, as well as public health and epidemiology/biostatistics courses, to make the lab work being performed translatable from bedside to population. This was a heavy lift for me, and it became apparent why a stark percentage of individuals who begin a PhD never finish. The ability to earn a PhD is only moderately based on intelligence, it’s predominantly based on resilience and perseverance. To complete my PhD, it took me almost 6 years. I enrolled and began in August 2014, and I defended my dissertation in April 2020 and graduated in May 2020. However, during my 6 years, I obtained independent funding and served as Principal Investigator on 2 multi-year research projects, worked on 8 multi-year research projects as a research assistant, taught 1000s of undergraduate and graduate students, built external collaborations I still foster today, and, importantly, established a long-standing relationship with my mentor that is unbreakable. She invested in me, and I invested back. I have watched her family grow from day 1 and she has been there for me as mine has grown as well.

I won’t glance over 2020, as much as I would like, since we all experienced 2020, but there are lessons to be learned. As you all know, 2020 was the beginning of the era of the COVID-19 pandemic. I was among the fortunate that had already scheduled their dissertation defense and was able to continue with a planned graduation in May 2020. Yet, I was never equipped to work from home. This may come as a shock, but I didn’t have internet at home, or a computer meant to perform anything but give basic presentations on. I was in office from sunrise to sunset Monday-Friday and for half a day on Saturday. The rest of the day and weekends I spent outside, with my dog, my friends, eventually my now wife, and when I wasn’t at work, I shut down. Like a literal light switch I turned off when I left the lab, I too turned off. COVID-19 changed this. I won’t regale you with how this changed and how I spent most of my early days during the COVID-19 pandemic, but I did successfully complete my degree in May 2020. Many others pushed theirs back and for good reason. Most places were understandably under hiring freezes. I had a PhD and couldn’t get a job. Another lesson is that most universities or institutions do not hire their PhD graduates for tenure-track positions, due to the ideology that your training and education came from the institute. Meaning, I couldn’t stay at the University of South Carolina. Fortunately, I had established relationships with potential postdoctoral research fellowship landing spots, such as the University of Kansas Medical Center and Pennington Biomedical Research Center. Unexcitingly, both centers were also under hiring freezes and stated they may not be able to potentially hire me until January 2021. I did what I do best, I worked to continue to progress towards a hiring goal. I contacted and communicated with everyone I possibly could, and my eventual boss was able to ensure an August 2020 start date. With that, I picked my now wife and I up, and left South Carolina to head back to Louisiana. Something I never imagined.

I’ll be quick about my time at Pennington Biomedical Research Center as it is still in my recent peripheral view. I was extremely successful at Pennington Biomedical Research Center, obtaining intramural and extramural grant funding, working on numerous trials, gaining new hands-on experience, and knowledge, skills, and abilities I didn’t know possible, as well as was able to finally get over the proverbial hump, and publish several first author publications, something that eluded me during my PhD. However, the biggest lesson that I learned is that your career is only as meaningful as the personal life it supports. Several individuals I worked with lived under the moniker of continual sacrifice leads to a bountiful payoff that will reflect mightily on your career. The day-in day-out personal life sacrifice I saw was no longer a desire of mine. My wife was pregnant when I had this epiphany. I saw people in office on weekends, like I was, responding to emails at all hours of the day and night, like I was, and missing out on life events, like I was not prepared to do. When I brought this up to the people I worked with, they continued to state that this is what it takes to be successful in academia. That didn’t hold true for me, because I observed that, in my time at the University of South Carolina, this was not the standard expectation. I worked the way I did because it was conducive to me at the time but needed to be able to adapt. There was no adaptation at Pennington Biomedical Research Center, the reward for hard work was more hard work. You may remember, work is something I excel at, but I found my true joy did not come from the career I was building, but the life that was unfolding in front of me. It became clear that my number 1 job, that would require the most work, was taking care of my family, being a husband, and a father. Now, with baby #2 on the way, the dream of being a family man could not be clearer, and I needed to find a career path that would help make that dream a reality.

I applied to several academic positions, but unlike previous experiences, we were now regionally limited. We bought a house in Baton Rouge and our closest family is over 4 hours away. We knew if we moved, we would not only have to sell our house, but also continue to face several of the same challenges if we moved somewhere new. I had interviews with the College of Charleston, UNC-Charlotte, the UNC Nutrition Research Institue, and LSU, but the position never felt right. They either didn’t care to negotiate or had expectations that didn’t meet my goals. Several of my friends had applied to and obtained positions in industry-based careers, and I spoke with them about this type of opportunity. Several of them worked remote, giving them the flexibility to work wherever they wanted, had a flexible work arrangement, meaning they could work the hours they wished within reason, still had opportunities to travel and meet their team in-person, and, importantly, could continue to pursue the research they desired, while being able to provide for their families in ways previously unimaginable. Similar to my approach for career, PhD, and postdoctoral research fellowship positions, I did extensive research into the positions I would find fulfilling for companies I desired to work for. I won’t mention the number of applications, interviews, etc…but I found my current role as a Senior Research Physiologist at Leidos Inc. Interestingly, I do not work directly with Leidos Inc. I am a Navy contractor working on DoD funded research projects with primary function of supporting ongoing projects within the Warfighter Performance Department at the Naval Health Research Center. In doing so, I provide in-depth input for ongoing projects to integrate and validate measures of stress physiology in operationally relevant environments. A dream I didn’t know I had, but I am 2 months into the position and wouldn’t dare look back. I am assisting in driving meaningful change and inform policy on how we train current military personnel, not only for operational performance, but also for health and longevity of military personnel and their families.

This is where I currently stand in my life. If you would like to know more, I am an open book and welcome discussion. I am a work-from-home husband and father who gets to continue to perform the impactful research and career goals I initially set out on. I am not a mechanical engineer, I do not lead a cardiac rehabilitation clinic, I am not a traditional PhD-level academic. Each of these dreams led to another dream. That is the exciting part about dreams, they can change at a moment’s notice. It’s up to us to take those dreams and make them a reality. You may notice I did not use names or highlight specific individuals. This was purposeful. We all have individuals in our life who provide guidance such as that I received, and I didn’t want the shift in focus to be on those individuals, their lives or their stories, but rather pinpoint that we should appreciate all of our encounters with professors, clinicians, students, friends and family, as well as peripheral members of our lives with equality and enjoy the little moments. Excitingly, I still have relationships with many of these people today, and, sadly, some of these individuals are no longer with us. Such is life. However, I find myself fortunate for my career path and the path forward for me in my budding career. The dream, as it were, remains to be told.

Practicing spirometry and ECG/EKG placement and observation in the Human Performance Laboratory at the University of Louisiana at Monroe

My undergraduate research project examined the relationship between heart rate response during various validated exercise tests with Wii Boxing heart rate response. Research can be fun!

As part of KINE 534 during my MS at Louisiana Tech, we were required to analyze complex movements during a standard performance test. Completed a box jump.

My dad and I at my Louisiana Tech University graduation.

Several pictures from my PhD! I had the opportunity to travel and present at several conferences and interact with scholar both nationally and internationally.

My current position as a Senior Research Physiologist with the Naval Health Research Center. Afforded the opportunity to train at the Scut Sniper Instructor School at Quantico, VA and observe over 200 USMC personnel complete their Marksmanship Performance Assessment.

My greatest achievement and most prized occupation…husband and father!

Alex Paille, BS Kinesiology and Health Sciences – Louisiana Tech (2021). Currently Pursuing Master of Science- Kinesiology and Exercise Science – Southeastern Louisiana University

My name is Alex Paille, and I am currently the Distance Coach for Southeastern Louisiana University Track & Field and Cross Country. I am also currently a graduate assistant in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Sciences while enrolled in the Master of Science in Kinesiology program, concentrating in Exercise Science. I entered the world of distance running as an 8th-grader, and over four years of high school, my love for the sport only grew stronger. While I knew that I did not have the athletic ability to be a competitive collegiate runner, I knew that I wanted to be involved with the sport in some capacity as an adult. This, along with a multitude of eye-opening experiences during my high school career, led me to study Kinesiology at Louisiana Tech.

My first introduction to distance running started back in 4th grade during PE class, when the whole class ran a 1 mile fitness test. Even though the idea of running fascinated me at the time, that side of me lay dormant for several years. My primary school did not have a track team, and cross country season was during football season, which held my undivided attention at the time. Things remained that way until 8th grade, when I joined the track & field team at St. Paul’s School in Covington, LA. I had come off of a disappointing experience with football that season, and considering that I weighed under 100 lbs. as a 13-year old, it was only a matter of time before my genetics got in the way of my NFL career. Once I came to that realization, cross country seemed a lot more appealing. My father had been an All-District distance runner in high school, and I quite liked the idea of following in his footsteps. So, as a rising freshman, I decided to hang up my cleats and lace up my running shoes by joining the cross country team.

From day one, cross country felt like home. My teammates were incredibly welcoming, and our head coach, Terryl Chatham, is still one of my favorite people in the whole world. His love and passion for the sport and his athletes played a massive role in my life, including introducing me to ultra-endurance races. He has completed two Ironman® triathlons, and while I have never completed one myself, I chose to compete in ultramarathons after high school. Besides being an incredibly knowledgeable coach, what really stuck with me was his devotion to all of his runners, not just the fastest ones. One day, after a relay race at practice, which my team won, Coach Terryl pulled me aside and told me, “I saw how well you were managing your runners. You’ll make a great coach one day.” For years, that brief conversation lived on in my head, hoping that one day I could make it a reality. 

My quest of fulfilling Coach Terryl’s prophecy inadvertently continued once I decided to study Kinesiology and Health Sciences at Louisiana Tech. Once again, I was following in my father’s footsteps, as he is an alumnus of Louisiana Tech, class of 1993. While at Tech, I had trouble pinning down my exact career choice, which can be distressing for underclassmen. However, I still had running, and that was all I needed to keep me content. First, I toyed with the idea of physical therapy, since around this time, I had learned about the legendary ultrarunner Scott Jurek, and I learned that he was a physical therapist during his day job. It made sense to me that PT would be a good profession for a dedicated runner, so that’s what I thought I wanted to do. Unfortunately, for most high schoolers, that is the only job associated with kinesiology. Thankfully, the Department of Kinesiology at Tech provided numerous perspectives on what career options exist in our field. 

After learning more about the profession, I realized that PT was not the right path for me, and my focus then shifted to athletic training. Even though I had developed a strong foundation for athletic training, including completing my undergraduate internship with Mandy Miller (now at LSU) and Louisiana Tech Sports Medicine, I still felt like my best fit was elsewhere. Somewhere around this time, I completed my first 100 mile endurance run. As I stated earlier, I had taken up ultra-running during my college years. This was my way of testing what my body was truly capable of, and searching for the limits of human potential. As I kept competing in race after race, something inside me was starting to take shape. More and more I began to discover that I did not want to work with injuries and rehab, but I instead wanted to work in human performance.

This then shifted my focus to performance-based career paths, zeroing in specifically on personal training and strength & conditioning. In accordance with this, I became a NSCA-Certified Personal Trainer (CPT) before graduating from Louisiana Tech with a BS in Kinesiology and Health Sciences in 2021. From there, I entered the workforce as a personal trainer at the West St. Tammany YMCA in Covington, LA, where I still work today. While I was enjoying working with my clients, I could tell that there was still something missing from my life: the competitive drive of athletics. So, in 2023, after a two-year hiatus from education, I decided to return to academia and pursue a Master of Science degree in Kinesiology and Health Studies, with a concentration in Exercise Science, at Southeastern Louisiana University.

Once accepted into the program, I was accepted for a graduate assistantship in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Sciences. I now work primarily as a research assistant for Dr. Brandi Decoux (Biomechanics) and Dr. Dan Hollander (Strength & Conditioning and Sports Psychology). I have been involved with several research studies so far, and the experience I have gained is invaluable. I am now able to use these tools to further develop my understanding of running, both inside and out. Most importantly, I have further developed my critical thinking skills. Because of this, I can confidently make my own decisions on how to interpret information, and that is more powerful than anything I could find in a textbook.

Before the start of my first semester, I reached out to the Head Cross Country/Track & Field Coach at SLU, Michael Rheams, Jr., asking if I could be involved as a volunteer assistant coach with the team. He said yes, and I began working with the team’s Distance Coach at the time, Clayton O’Callaghan (University of New Orleans). Early into my first season, when Coach Clayton accepted a position at UNO, I assumed the role of Distance Coach. While I was not sure I was ready for that role yet, I put my fear aside and rose to the occasion. After our first few days of practice, I knew I had found my path. “Work” did not feel like work at all, and before I knew it, all of my doubts and fears washed away. Coach Terryl’s prophecy had been fulfilled. I was home.

Now, as I continue to progress through my curriculum, I look to continue to advance my career as a cross country/track & field coach. Through one full year of competition, I have learned numerous lessons, especially lessons of what not to do in certain situations. However, I have viewed everything that has happened this season as a learning experience, and that is what I believe will make me a better coach. I aim to use the skills I have learned throughout my life to become the best coach that I can possibly be, hoping that I can help some young men and women become the best versions of themselves, as Coach Terryl had done for me. 

Photography Courtesy of Haley Dupre

Nick Fulco, BS Kinesiology and Health Promotion (Clinical Track)
Louisiana Tech (2016)
Doctorate of Physical Therapy (DPT) – University of St. Augustine for Health
Sciences (St. Augustine Campus 2019)

My name is Nick Fulco. I am from Shreveport, LA. I always knew I wanted to combine my enthusiasm for sports and medicine and find a way to combine the two, but I needed to figure out how and lacked any accurate guidance at the time. I started Louisiana Tech orientation as a business major and after five minutes of lecture, decided that it was not my passion. I completed my first quarter as an undecided major, and with the help of Stacy Gilbert, I decided to choose a pre-med route using the Clinical Kinesiology track. After shadowing family/sports medicine docs and ortho surgeons, I realized the current medical system didn’t allow enough time with patients to provide the care and impact I wanted and that being an ortho surgeon was too much school for me.

Once I reached my KINE classes, I loved the small class size and that every professor knew and genuinely cared about your well-being and goals as a student, which ultimately sold me. I still have a personal soft spot with Ms. Rhonda, as she liked to play momma duck even back then. I gathered the knowledge and practical skills needed to succeed and realized that being a sports & orthopedic-based physical therapist was my career path. I was lucky to have Jereme Johnson as a mentor during my internship while working at Lambright as a fitness staff member, so I was very fortunate to be surroundedby practical scenarios where I could apply what I learned in class.

I then went to the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences (USAHS) in St. Augustine, FL. I quickly found that I was among the most prepared students regarding therapeutic exercise, biomechanics, and anatomy and physiology content. I fell in love with manual therapy and having a hands-on approach with patients while applying evidence-informed interventions with patients depending on their diagnoses. During my time in PT school, I was again fortunate enough to work with NFL, NHL, and other professional sports players and student-athletes at the University of Georgia.

After graduation, my professional experience as a physical therapist consisted of working at privately owned or hospital-based outpatient care dealing with Level I trauma, orthopedic post-operative, or sport-related injury patients. Through life-long learning, demonstrating competency, determination, and advocating for physical therapy, I am proud to say I have provided care from Olympic athletes to helping someone who was wheelchair-bound walk again and return to recreational soccer at her church. I am grateful for the experience along the way. I have also served in non-traditional roles as the Business Operations Manager for 1 Healthpoint Inc. (1HP), a company that provides care to professional and recreational esports athletes.

Currently, I am the co-owner and CEO of Fulco & Hall Performance & Therapy (FHPT) and the Louisiana Golf Institute (LGI) located in Bossier City and Broussard, LA. At FHPT, I can take my passion for providing one-on-one care to my patients/clients using physical therapy, strength & conditioning, and holistic wellness approaches to help them prehab, rehab, and recover from competition. Our purpose is simple: we want to help anyone who walks through our door reach their personal goals while fostering a sense of lifelong independence and health. I am also the physical therapist for the Shreveport Mudbugs and many local college and high school athletes.

Simultaneously at LGI, we utilize 3D biomechanical systems, physical therapy, mobility and strength objective testing, and data analytics to determine the critical specific factors needing improvement to increase a golfer’s effectiveness on the golf course. This can consist of creating a power-based program to increase club head speed based on their current angle of attack and swing pattern, creating a mobility program for a deficit in myofascial length or thoracic rotation limiting someone’s backswing, and many other problems we see daily. We also work with professional club fitters and swing coaches within our alliance network to facilitate a multi-professional approach that exponentially increases performance.

I would like to personally thank my mentors and dear friends along the way Ms. Rhonda Boyd, Dr. David Hall, Dr. Tom Phan, Dr. Andy Smith, Dr. Henry Pursner, Dr. Geoff McLeod, Ms. Amy Baker, and many others for their contributions to my journey.

In closing remarks, remember to always bet on you. Discover your true motivation, your “why,” and never let monetary considerations dictate your career choices. Far too often, people abandon their dreams of pursuing something unique and meaningful because they’re swayed by financial gain, doubts, fears, or other external pressures. Life can be and will be challenging. Yet, it’s up to you to determine the level of fulfillment you derive from your career. Follow your passions, and cultivate a sense of gratitude that stems from pursuing what truly matters to you.

Sincerely,
Dr. Nick Fulco, PT, DPT, Cert. DN
Titleist Performance Institute Certified

Stine Emrick, BS Kinesiology and Health Promotion – Louisiana Tech (2020)
Master of Educational Leadership- Community College/Higher Education- Northern Arizona University

My name is Stine Emrick, I am currently the Associate Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at Northern Arizona University. I began my journey in strength and conditioning while I was still in college, competing as a student athlete on La Tech’s women’s soccer team. I knew that I wanted to pursue a career in strength and conditioning while I was still in high school and training with a strength and conditioning coach, recognizing that I could develop my physical qualities that made me successful at playing soccer. Due to that, I chose to pursue a degree in Kinesiology while at Louisiana Tech. Through my education and career as a collegiate athlete, I was able to be exposed to collegiate strength and conditioning and recognized it as something that I wanted to pursue specifically. 

My first internship was during the summer of 2018 at Next Level Sports Performance in Golden, CO. Although the private sector was not ultimately where I wanted to end up in a full time position, it gave me the foundation for interactions with athletes. I then completed other internships, the first being at Colorado State University during the summer of 2019 under the leadership of Joey Guarascio (currently the head strength and conditioning coach at Florida Atlantic University), Carl Miller (athletic performance coach at Indiana), Zach Higginbotham (Director of Sports Science at Michigan), Shelton Gaffney (director of football strength and conditioning coach at Bethune-Cookman), and Elijah Blackman (assistant strength and conditioning coach for football at Kansas State). Following my summer at CSU I joined Coach Kurt Hester (current director of football sports performance) as an intern for the entire 2019-2020 year at La Tech. Here I continued to be poured into by Coach Hester and the rest of his staff (Aaron Schultz (assistant strength and conditioning coach at Kansas State), Cody Bascom, Troy Johnson (assistant strength and conditioning coach at Florida International University), and Brian Walker (assistant head of strength and conditioning at IMG Academy)). During my time as an intern at Tech, I studied and earned my Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS). My experiences in my internships lead me to pursue a graduate assistantship to be able to earn my master’s degree as well as get full time experience coaching various teams.          

I applied and was hired as a GA at Northern Arizona University in the spring of 2020 and began coaching during the summer of 2020. I spent 9 months as a GA before being hired full time and eventually being promoted to Associate Head Strength and Conditioning Coach. While here I have been personally responsible for women’s golf, women’s dive, women’s soccer, and women’s basketball. In addition to these teams, I have had the opportunity to work with men’s basketball, women’s swim, sprints and jumps, and throws. I have heavily assisted with the football team and all aspects of their training. While at NAU, I have had the privilege of working with several fantastic strength and conditioning coaches who have shaped, grown, and challenged me. Those coaches include Michael Gragg (head strength and conditioning coach at Harding University), Jake Buehler (strength and conditioning coach at Grand Haven High School), Victoria Saucedo (director of sports performance for women’s basketball at Virginia Commonwealth University), Sam Lackey (director of strength and conditioning coach at Lamar High School), Jaylon “Beef” Watson (director of sports performance at Jackson State University), Tyler Shumate (assistant director of athletic performance), Lauren Sale (assistant sports performance coach), Taylor Bissel (director of sports performance at Southeastern Oklahoma State University), and others. 

My role consists of the full development of the women’s soccer and women’s basketball teams here at NAU. That includes all resistance training that they participate in, any energy system development, and speed development. With both of these teams, data is collected and analyzed for various metrics including but not limited to peak power, jump height, hydration levels, yardage/load during practice and more. My involvement with these teams includes travel and attendance of practices and games where I also play roles. Not only am I heavily involved with my own teams, but I also play a role in implementation of resistance training, energy system development, speed development, and travel with the football team. Beyond the coaching that I do, I am responsible for all intern education and curriculum development. We have had over a dozen interns earn GA positions or otherwise after their internship at NAU. Those interns include Shawn Field (former assistant strength and conditioning coach at UNLV), Johnny Goldstein (head strength and conditioning coach at Ventura College), Jordan Elias (head strength and conditioning coach at Desert Edge High School), Sean Riden (assistant strength and conditioning coach at Frostburg State University), Will Fazende (assistant sports performance coach at the University of Evansville, also a graduate of Louisiana Tech), Logan Bayus (head strength coach at O’Connor High School), Nick Brown (graduate assistant at Mercer University), Johnny Atnip (graduate assistant at Fairfield University), Lex Mohler (graduate assistant at Central Missouri University), Tommie Dorsey (graduate assistant at St. John’s University), and Marlise Karson (sports performance coach at Mankind Physical Therapy).

While I have been a strength and conditioning coach I have obtained my CSCS, and my Functional Movement Systems (FMS) Level 1 certification. Although I have not yet pursued certifications in these areas, I have been exposed to Functional Range Conditioning (FRC) and Reflexive Performance Reset (RPR) and have been educated in those areas by individuals who hold certifications in those systems. Beyond education on these systems, I have had the opportunity to continue my education by attending national conferences as well as continuing education on my own through various organizations. 

Taylor Stahly Reed, B.S. Exercise and Health Promotion 2019

Growing up, sports were a huge part of my life. Basketball was my main sport, but I played everything from flag football, to softball, to track and field. I always knew that I wanted to be a coach to stay close to sports and everything that they teach you in life. I came to Louisiana Tech in the fall of 2017 and graduated two years later with a Bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology with an emphasis in Exercise and Health Promotion. During my time at Tech, I was a member of the women’s basketball team, which only enhanced my desire to become a collegiate basketball coach. Getting my degree in Kinesiology was the best choice I could have made to help me take my first steps into the coaching field.

Upon graduating in 2019, I moved to Houston where I became a Graduate Assistant for the women’s basketball team at Houston Christian University, a small Division 1 school competing in the Southland Conference. I have been with the program for 5 years now, where I have held titles as an Assistant Coach, Recruiting Coordinator, and now Associate Head Coach. In 2021-2022, our team won the Southland Conference, the first women’s basketball team to do so in school history. Throughout my time in coaching, there are many moments that I look back on my time at Tech and am thankful for the degree path that I chose. Kinesiology is a broad field with so many directions that you can go in it. I have found that a lot of people choose Kinesiology to get into coaching because it normally involves conversations about sport and its movement at some point in your curriculum. However, I have found that my degree is applied almost every day that I come to work.

Basketball is a game of almost constant movement and change of direction. Understanding physiology and energy systems within the body is crucial in getting the most out of your players during the different phases of a season. Players will typically play anywhere from 25-30 games in a 4-month time span, so being on the same page with your other staff members is critical. Athletic trainers are one of the most important positions in college athletics. Inevitably, players will get hurt or sick throughout a season. I have found that because of my degree in Kinesiology, I am able to have knowledgeable conversations with our athletic training staff about player injuries and recovery times, which allows me to have an overall idea of how our team is recovering to their various training sessions throughout the season and how the wear and tear of the season effects their overall performance.

Another area of importance to college athletics is Strength and Conditioning. In 2020, I became a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS). Although I am not the S&C coach for our team, I work closely with him during the pre-season to strategize how many days a week our team will lift, for how long, and how we will test their progress and performance along the way. We also come up with various conditioning tests for our players and implement them during the preseason. There are also times that I will step in and supervise our players during their training sessions if our S&C coach is out sick or tied up with another team. Without a degree in Kinesiology, I never would have had a knowledge base to pass the CSCS exam and would most likely not be able to have training and programming conversations with our teams S&C coach.

To me, coaching was an obvious profession from the start. Unlike other professions, coaching doesn’t require a certain degree for you to get into the field. In my opinion, however, Kinesiology is the best option for anyone considering getting into the field of coaching. Although sports are typically viewed as strategy and skill based on the particular game you play, coaching becomes much more holistic when you look at it from a science-based standpoint in the areas of physiology, anatomy, and strength and conditioning. The knowledge I gained from my professors at Louisiana Tech was second to none and I cannot speak highly enough of the department and all that it did for me during my 2 years there. For anyone who is considering a career in coaching, understand that the game you choose to coach and the players you influence every day are the most important thing. I encourage you to arm yourselves with as much knowledge as you can to prepare and motivate the next generation of athletes!

A special thank you to all the professors who helped me get where I am today: Jessica Szymanski, David Szymanski, Rhonda Boyd, Lacey Deal, Jordan Blazo, Ben Gleason, and Smiley Reeves. You all changed my life and encouraged me to be my best every day. I can’t thank you enough for the impact you made on my life.

Note: Taylor was a member of the Lady Techster’s Basketball team and graduated Summa Cum Laude with a 4.0 GPA.

Aaron Gootzeit, DC, MS, CSCS 
Louisiana Tech University – Kinesiology, Exercise and Health Promotion (2012)
Louisiana Tech University – M.S., Kinesiology, Sports Performance (2014)
Palmer University- Doctor of Chiropractic (2021)

There have been many twists and turns throughout my education and professional career that have somehow brought me to an amazing point in my life. Currently I am a Chiropractor that specializes in rehabilitation and performance. My patients range from Little League Baseball players with overuse shoulder injuries to high performing athletes preparing for their upcoming season or to come back from an injury to 81 year olds who do not want to stop exercising and being active. I love my career choice not only for the people I get to work with but also because it is in line with a journey I set out on many years ago and allows me to use almost all of the skills I have acquired along the way. 

I grew up in New York City, and like most people in that area I had no idea where Louisiana Tech was or that it even existed. In 2008 I transferred to Tech and had absolutely no idea where I was going or how I was going to get there. I was already a kinesiology student at my past school and decided I should stick to the major. That’s when I took my first Dr. Szymanski class and got absolutely shaken up, motivated, and intrigued. The wake up call that was “Exercise Physiology”, propelled me down a path of growth and self development. During this time of growth and development, I picked up 2 passions: personal training/helping others achieve goals and Rugby (shout out to Tech Rugby).

Fast forward to one of my last quarters as an undergrad student, I was making my schedule and realized I only had “one more Doc class” left and it was “Strength and Conditioning ”.  It sounded interesting and I was pretty excited to learn. This class changed my life and inspired me to continue my education in the graduate program in the Kinesiology Department pursuing a Masters in Kinesiology and Sport Performance. This would be my first step to becoming a strength and conditioning coach in professional rugby. 

During grad school I continued to play rugby and was able to help rebuild the Tech Rugby program and even win a league championship! Outside of that I was the Graduate Assistant for Health and Wellness at the Lambright Center. I took on responsibilities as a personal trainer, staff supervisor, program coordinator, and group fitness instructor just to name a few of the hats I wore in that role. I was also afforded the opportunity to work with Doc as a strength and conditioning assistant with the Louisiana Tech Baseball team for a season.  This gave me my first experience in the role of a strength and conditioning coach. 

During my graduate studies I was fortunate enough to earn a summer internship at the Tiger Rugby Academy which was a USA Rugby Olympic Development Academy for the 2016 olympic cycle. That summer was amazing! I made some lifelong friends, learned a ton from a couple of amazing mentors, and got my first taste of what constantly being on the road and full time training looked like!  I was hooked! At the end of the summer following graduation I was offered the opportunity for full time employment.  The money offered was not great at all, but I was in the game and that was really all I wanted, so I took it! 

While working at Tiger I was given the opportunity to travel all over the country and work with some amazing athletes, a couple who competed in the olympics and went on to unbelievable international careers or domestic professional careers. The thing about training for rugby full time is that there is never really any off season; especially for the players that are on the rise or trying to get noticed through the club system. The average competitive rugby player in the US will play from February or March (depending on region) to November, not to mention you travel all over the country for the top competitions. This grueling schedule made programming very difficult at times due partly to time but also due to the constant threat of injury and player fatigue. 

Dr. Szymanski has what he calls the “strength coach elevator speech”, it is “A strength coach’s job is to keep the athletes healthy, strong, powerful, and on the field”. Words to live by. They circulate in my head and help guide my programming to this day whether it’s for an 81 year old or for a 23 year old trying out for a professional contract. 

When I was working with these athletes we would generally only get 2 – 3 weeks max 3 – 4 times a year to actually hit the gym hard with the athletes, the rest of the time we were working to prevent injuries and recover from competition while not losing strength and power. As time went on I learned that it did not take as much to maintain the strength and power of this caliber of athlete as it did to keep them healthy and on the field. I dove down a rabbit hole of rehab, prehab, and recovery techniques to use with the athletes at the academy. 

As time went on like all things, my time in Columbus, OH came to a close. As part of Tiger Rugby Academy I signed a contract with the Clemson University Rugby Club to be their full time strength and conditioning coach as well as an assistant rugby coach. This was another great year of coaching great athletes, traveling, and great rugby! As the year came to a close my contract with Clemson was ending and the coach who brought me on was resigning. Time to figure out the next step! I had a three options: continue with Tiger Rugby and hope for the best, take a job at a chain strength and conditioning facility, or go back to school. 

The last trip I took with the Clemson Rugby Club was to the Collegiate Rugby Championship in Philadelphia, PA which is the biggest college rugby tournament in the country and is televised nationally. At the tournament Palmer College of Chiropractic was recruiting postgraduate rugby players to play for their rugby club and pursue a Doctor of Chiropractic degree. After some internal debates and phone calls I applied for Palmer, got in, and started classes all within about a 6 week period. 

When I went to Palmer I was on a mission to learn as much as I could about rehab and get back to sports. When I became eligible about halfway through my schooling I applied to be an intern in the rehab department. I loved it! I was learning all the cool things and getting the opportunity to incorporate what I learned up to that point. I ended up spending almost all of my free time during the day there. At that point I was confident that I was going to use exercise and chiropractic modalities to keep people healthy, strong, powerful, and on the field. 

When I started filling out applications I realized the world had a different plan. Of the “dream jobs” I found- some I never heard from after sending my resume, some I needed more experience as a chiropractor, and others I did not feel comfortable accepting once I had insight. This led me to taking a job at a family practice that did 5 to 10 minute appointments, with no time or space for exercise. After a while at this practice and instances of patients not getting the results I thought they deserved due to the restraints of the practices model, I left.  I started my own practice in a facility that specializes in training young athletes. 

Currently I am able to offer 1 hour appointments that include chiropractic care including adjustments and soft tissue work as well as time in the gym 1 on 1 doing exercises geared at recovering from injury, preventing injury, and improving performance. I truly enjoy waking up everyday and going to my office. I am truly excited to see where the rest of my career takes me. 

I want to finish by saying that although I happened to come across Tech by chance, I truly believe being there was one of the most important parts of my life. I started as a child without direction and finished with all the tools to chase my most wild dreams. The teachers challenged me to become the best version of myself, they held me to a high standard, they showed me unwavering support, built up my confidence, and they instilled values and lessons that I still carry with me today. There is no way I would be able to have taken the chances and leaps of faith I have taken without the lessons I was taught during my time as a student in the Louisiana Tech Kinesiology Department. 

• Postscript: 

I love that I am back to working with athletes and active people in a gym setting.  I am planning to once again get involved with high level rugby in the future. I was told that this was not possible. I would have never tried to make it possible if it weren’t for the lessons I learned at Tech including a statement I heard on my first day of the grad program, “get comfortable with being uncomfortable”. 

Kaila Manshack, D.C.
Louisiana Tech University- Clinical Kinesiology 2015
Parker University – Doctor of Chiropractic 2019

Introduction:
Choosing a major in college is a crucial decision that can shape our future careers. I am passionate about exercise science, body mechanics, and a holistic approach to healthcare, so pursuing a degree in Kinesiology was an excellent choice. Clinical Kinesiology was a great undergraduate degree for me because of its relevance to exercise science and the human body. By studying Kinesiology, I was able to gain a deep understanding of anatomy, physiology, and biomechanics.

When I was a student at Louisiana Tech I knew Kinesiology would be a great option for me to be able to go into the healthcare field. I’m so thankful for the professors in the Kinesiology department help me become who I am today.

After graduating from Louisiana Tech in 2015 I went on to receive my doctorate in chiropractic at Parker University in 2019 and am currently
working in Shreveport, Louisiana at ND Wellness. Chiropractic is an incredibly beneficial health profession that many people do not understand. We believe that everyone has the right to good health. Through chiropractic, we can help patients get back to health by approaching spinal health from a holistic perspective. At its core, chiropractic seeks to free up the nervous system by ensuring that each vertebra in the spine is upright and properly aligned with the next. This helps avoid any possible encroachment on nerves whereby information flow between your brain and body
might be skewed or restricted. An optimal functioning spinal cord is essential for health. Some benefits of chiropractic is improving your
overall health, pain relief, improved posture, coordination, flexibility, circulation, and immune system. I am also able to provide nutritional counseling to patients to assess nutritional needs and create personalized nutritional plans.

Choosing Clinical Kinesiology was a great foundation in learning exercise science as well as body mechanics and makes an excellent for pursuing a career in chiropractic. By studying Kinesiology I was well prepared when starting chiropractic school. I’m so thankful for the time I spent at Louisiana Tech.

Tyler Griggers, Louisiana Tech Kinesiology – B.S. Kinesiology & Health Sciences – Class of 2019

I’m a former Track and Field athlete who competed in the men’s javelin throw. I originally started out in Engineering for a year before switching majors. During my first year with the engineering department, I didn’t feel like I fit in with the crowd, never got to know any of the professors, and honestly just didn’t enjoy that field of study. I made the switch my sophomore year into a field that I naturally was curious about. Kinesiology, to sum it up, is the study of how the body moves. Being an athlete, I wanted to be the best I could be. As I got further into my studies and my relationships with the faculty grew, I was able to perform independent tests on applied forces that would correlate directly into my javelin throw. I also learned about nutrition, and nutrient timing which fueled my body to preform instead of cramp as I recall one quarter having terrible body cramps. After taking everything I was learning and applying it to my training, I eventually qualified for the Division 1 NCAA’s regionals and competed against the best in the country. Now that you know about my past, let’s talk about the present.

At the time I’m writing this, it’s the end of year 2023 and I reside in Jacksonville, Florida with my beautiful fiancé and two dogs. I work full time for a medical device company called Stryker and have been with them for four years now. More specifically, I am a part of the Trauma and Extremities division. Basically, my job is to provide orthopedic surgeons with the hardware they need to correct broken bones. My job includes standing in on surgeries daily and assisting on fracture reduction, while being an expert on the product that is being used to provide any useful tips or answer questions. I’m able to use my degree daily due to my knowledge of anatomy and how these different forces (muscles) will pull on the bone at their attachment points thus misaligning the fracture. I’ve done it all, from the broken finger, to the 2 am poly trauma who got in a car wreck and broke everything they could. There is a wide variety of the day-to-day surgeries, so no day is ever the same redundant process.

Stryker is also such a large company that they have 18 divisions, across over 75 countries, employing over 51 thousand employees. Something we started doing in the recent years are summer internships. If you are a junior going into your final year, you are eligible to apply for this 3 month long paid internship with us, and you might end up in a cool place like Florida with me.

Dee Fleming, B.S. Louisiana Tech University Kinesiology and Health Sciences

Throughout my time at Louisiana Tech and the Kinesiology Department, I was always supported by my instructors and felt at home. The courses provided in Kinesiology prepared me for so much more than I could ever imagine. During my time in college, I had the opportunity to volunteer and participate in the Rock Steady Boxing classes provided for patients with Parkinson’s Disease. Fast forward to today, and partnering with Rock Steady Boxing and Parkinson’ssupport groups is one of my favorite roles of my current career.

I am currently a Business Development/Therapy Awareness Manager for Boston Scientific Deep Brain Stimulation. Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) is an amazing therapy provided to improve the motor symptoms caused by Parkinson’s Disease and Essential Tremor. This is achieved by performing a minimally invasive surgical procedure in the brain, where the patient is awake, so we can monitor symptoms and brain activity during the operation. During this procedure, the patient will be implanted with leads and a battery to power the electrical stimulation that will be providing the therapy. The ultimate goal is to help those diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease and Essential Tremor, receive their quality of life back.

There are a few components involved in the process of DBS. The first step of DBS is the Stage 1 procedure, which involves the neurosurgeon placing leads into the specific structures in the brain that can provide the best therapy and decrease of symptoms for the patient. With these structures being so small and there being several other structures in the brain we want to avoid, the procedure is done in millimeter increments. As mentioned before, this step involves testing during the procedure, by one of us connecting our clinical programmer (Microsoft tablet), to the microelectrodes or leads and increasing amplitude of electrical stimulation. During this process, the patient is awake while we monitor tremor, rigidity (stiffness), and bradykinesia (slow movements). Every testing method may be different as we ask them to perform several movements or actions, such as drawing spirals on a piece of paper before and after we turn on stimulation. There are several videos available on the internet that show musicians being given an instrument to play during the procedure, such as a violin, which was very difficult to do after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s or Essential Tremor. While decreasing motor symptoms are our goal, we also focus on not applying stimulation to structures that may cause unwanted side effects; this is where our Image Guided Programming software is very helpful and accurate. Once the leads are where they need to be and therapy has great results, the incisions are closed, and the patient is given time to recover in the facility before returning home. This gives the patient and brain an opportunity to rest and heal before the next procedure.

In the next step, this is a procedure that consists of surgically placing the battery into a small pocket inside of the chest and connecting it to the leads and its extensions. While there are several differences, the placement is similar to a pacemaker. One difference I always like to point out, are our batteries are MRI conditional, which means the patient still has the ability to get MRI scans and imaging. Once everything is connected, we test the battery and leads to make sure that there are no connectivity issues or impendences before we conclude the procedure. The patient is normally sent home the same day to rest and heal. The next time we see them, will be at their neurologist’s clinic for the initial programming, where we turn the system and stimulation on.

My very first initial programming humbled me. There are a lot of things that we take for granted, whether it’s being able to pick up a fork and eat, pour and drink our coffee, scroll through our phones, play with loved ones, and etc. Working in this field has made me so much more appreciative, but also so happy for those who decided to follow through with DBS. The initial programming can be very emotional sometimes as patients are able to do things, they weren’t able to do for some time. During my first initial programming I saw, the patient was given a cup and asked to imagine water was in it, and to raise to her mouth for a drink. It was honestly heartbreaking to see that she couldn’t raise the cup to her mouth or drink without a significant amount of tremor. She also stated that often, most of the drink ends up on her clothes. We turned on stimulation, monitoring her as we increased amplitude. We gave her the cup again and asked her to imagine she was taking a drink. At this exact moment, I remember getting chill bumps and seeing her husband beside her in disbelief, as she was able to drink with no tremor or issues at all. Seeing the tears flow, seeing the rejoice, makes me love my job and what I do. Coming from an emergency medicine and law enforcement background prior to medical device, purpose was always something I wanted to seek in my next career. I’ve found just that. I get to work with a phenomenal company and team. I get to partner with motivated neurologists and neurosurgeons who are looking to improve the care available for patients. I get to serve some amazing people.

So thank you Louisiana Tech Kinesiology for preparing me for these moments and giving me the knowledge and experience needed. Thank you for always motivating and believing in me.