Confidence – a sense of self
Excellence – appreciation for first-rate experiences
Commitment – acceptance of responsibility of the University
Knowledge – understanding of ideas based on actual experience
Integrity – ability to defend, evaluate, or question one’s own belief’s
Respect – acknowledgement of others’ beliefs through personal interaction
Leadership – guidance through service, involvement, and mentoring
Loyalty – faithfulness to values, commitments, and responsibilities
Enthusiasm – excitement for personal characteristics and future
Caring – affinity for beauty, performing arts, and human culture
Hope – belief in future experiences and growth opportunities
Pride – a sense of self-respect
These are the Tenets of Tech. You can find them embedded in the columns of the new dorms on campus, they are visible on the walls at Memorial Gym, Woodard Hall, the BARC (the Bulldog Academic Resource Center), the BARC Commons in Davison Hall, the Student Center and Tolliver Hall .
They also encircle the Tenet Medallion. Each freshman is given a medallion at the Academic Convocation held the first week of Fall quarter. They deposit their medallions in the waters at the Lady of Mist. The medallions are then returned to each student as they cross the stage at their graduation.
But most importantly you can find these intrinsic traits in the students who attend Lousiana Tech University. This school year, each blog will feature a tenet and someone who embodies that characteristic.
The textbook used for FYE 100 (First Year Experience), Convocation to Graduation says the following:
“A college or university is often defined by the traditions, values, and principles established by its leaders over the course of many years and by how effective the leaders infused these concepts into the culture of the institution. Over time, these concepts become the cornerstone of the institutions’ identity and the pillars upon which its mission and vision are built. They should also comprise a large part of the student’s personal character as well as serve a guideline for future generations.”
“Several years ago, the Division of Student Affairs identified twelve guiding principles, or tenets, that exemplify the qualities that Tech students should possess upon graduating from this institution. A tenet is defined as ‘an opinion, doctrine, or principle held as being true by a person or especially by an organization.”
“It is expected that you make a personal choice to dedicate yourself to living these tenets during your academic career at Tech. It is also a choice that pays rich dividends throughout your life as you continue to personify these tenets personally and professionally. In essence, these tenets become more than ideas to be learned, they become a moral and ethical compass with which to navigate through life.”
The first tenant in these series is commitment and Tyler Griggers is truly a man who embodies this in all that he does.
Tyler, a senior Kinesiology major, grew up in Moss Bluff, Louisiana, the home of the Sam Houston Broncos. He is a javelin competitor with the Louisiana Track and Field team. Tyler actually wanted to play baseball in high school but following tryouts was cut from the team. Tyler recalls as he was walking back to the gym, he went across the practice field where they were “launching these spears”. He said he will never forget Coach Waller coming up to him and saying, “Hey Griggers, come here. You look like you can throw a stick.” From that day forward he worked at trying to be the best “stick thrower” he could be.
His Javelin career started in 2011. He had a lot of help from Chris Hill, the 2009 USA Outdoor Champion and NCAA Champion from UGA. Upon his arrival at Louisiana Tech, he was a walk-on, yet through hard work and perseverance he earned scholarship status. Tyler says these past seven years have been an “absolute dream.” During his freshman year, he took a medical redshirt after tearing his ACL at the first track meet. He had to have ACL reconstruction on his left knee for a second time.
On February 16 of this year, Tyler and four of his teammates were on the track throwing with Coach O (Davina Orieukwu). Tyler recalls, “every now and then you get those days where you don’t want to stop throwing, and so eventually I limited myself to “last one.” On that last throw, I heard a small pop in my shoulder, but didn’t think anything of it because I pop in joints all the time, and I had no pain. Next morning, I woke up and my shoulder was too stiff to move, and I consulted my athletic trainer Emily Eunice.”
According the the MRI results, Tyler had experienced a SLAP tear in his right shoulder. SLAP stands for superior labral tear from anterior to posterior. The physician recommended doing arthoscopic surgery to repair the tear. This would mean about nine months till he could throw again and about a year to fully recover and start throwing competitively again.
Tyler decided to get a second opinion. He knew of several great javelin throwers who had surgery and didn’t come back as strong or didn’t come back at all. After doing his own research he found some current “amazing” athletes who continue to throw with a SLAP tear. The second physician said that he didn’t need surgery at this time. He was told to rehab it and build up the surrounding supporting muscle.
The SLAP tear occurred about a month prior to Tyler’s first meet. “I wasn’t ready to throw away all the work I had already put in the off-season, so I pushed on, listening to my body but still pushing it to it’s limits,” he said. “I knew Dr. Szymanski had worked with baseball players designing specific workouts based on different throwing mechanics for each position. With this information, I decided to reach out to him for advice on strengthening my shoulder. He, the Louisiana Tech Athletic Training staff, LOTS Physical Therapy, and Smith Chiropractic helped me during my season with rehab,” Tyler recalled.
“Most of the strengthening came from my coach, the trainers, Dr. Szymanski, and independent research that would target specific exercises like the throwers 10 (an exercise program) offers. Doing twice as many pulls to pushes had a dramatic improvement to my shoulder. The recovery and maintenance part were reliant on LOTS, Dr. Smith, and Emily Eunice. They helped me to optimize my recovery after track meets. Prior to the meet, about two days before we would travel, I would go to LOTS for some stretching and dry needling. Every other week I was with Dr. Smith for more stretching and he would work on my joints and spine for pressure releasing. Every day I was in the training room doing some type of recovery such as ice, cupping therapy, iontophoresis, ultra sound, the list goes on. On competition days I had my shoulder taped up with KT tape. Emily and I tried three different ways of taping during practice, until we found the one that I felt held my shoulder and biceps tendon the best while still giving me effective range of motion,” said Tyler.
Today, Tyler rarely experiences any shoulder pain. He believes that he has fully recovered because his one rep max weight has increased over last year for all of his Olympic lifts. He continues to do extra strength exercises and stretching for his shoulder while doing the same recovery methods mentioned earlier.
Last year he had his longest official distance mark which qualified him to go the NCAA Division 1 regional track meet in Tampa, Florida. He threw for a distance of 63.91 meters (209’8″). He is hoping to improve this mark.
Besides physical trials, Tyler has also dealt with dietary issues that affected his training. During the Fall of 2017 he began experiencing daily cramps, fatigue that would creep up faster than expected and a decline in weight movement. Tyler was confused and frustrated because he knew that he had good nutritional habits.
“During this time, I was enrolled in KINE 408 (Physiology of Exercise) which was being taught by Doc (David Szymanski). It just so happened he was teaching about sports performance and proper nutrition. After class, I went to his office and he gladly listened to my problems, asked me questions about my diet, and gave me extremely useful information, which I soon found out we were learning in the next class period,” Tyler said.
“At that time, I became my own “experiment.” What I found out was that I was taking in too much water and flushing out my body basically. I didn’t decrease my water intake, but instead increased potassium intake, added salt or Tony’s to my food, mixed in a Gatorade through the day, and that helped me with the cramps. For fatigue, I looked at the nutrients I was getting, not just the macros but micros too. Nutrient timing was an important factor for me, so instead of taking both vitamins in the morning, I began taking one and then have the other about an hour before practice.”
“I was getting plenty of protein because every guy who wants to gain muscle is going to overload their protein. Instead of just drinking milk in the morning I drank chocolate milk with a tablespoon of creatine. The creatine helps with ATP production that your body uses as a main source of energy, and when your muscle is lacking ATP, your energy levels are depleted. The chocolate milk was used because the creatine followed the sugar which would get into your bloodstream quicker, enhancing brain function for my classes, producing ATP earlier, and it tasted good. One more thing I did was intake Juice Plus, this gave me the servings of fruits and veggies I was lacking from my diet during the day. Adjusting what and when I put nutrients in my body throughout three weeks provided me with the results I was looking for, and I stuck with it.”
Off the field, Tyler is just as committed to academics. He said, “When I came to Tech, I was in a different major when I realized that what I wanted to do with my life wasn’t in that field of study. Since switching to KINE, I fell in love with the material being taught. But apart from that, I can’t help but love the teachers here too. They always are smiling and saying hello in the halls, thoroughly explaining the information they teach, and always have an open-door policy that lets me feel that I can drop in at any time to not only get help about classes, but talk to them about things outside of school, it feels like a second family here. I wouldn’t trade this school or their staff for any other one. Ruston is home.”
After completing his degree in Kinesiology and Health Science, he plans to further his education to become a physician’s assistant specializing in orthopedics and sports medicine. He has a passion to work with athletes helping them return to their respective sports as soon as possible.
I asked Tyler which Tenent of Tech means the most to him and he chose Commitment. He said, “I chose this word for many reasons, but to sum it up I would say that my father taught me this at a young age. Don’t give up on anything you start. I’m not going to lie and say I’ve never wondered what it would be like to just focusing on school, but I can say that I can’t imagine my life without athletics in it. My father taught me work ethic. I wasn’t a born athlete, never the best at anything but I worked for it. After my first ACL tear I relied on that, not backing down. After the second tear, I still wasn’t ready to call it quits. I was committed to myself and my team, so I did what it took to make a comeback, and thanks be to God, I’m still able to compete. To me, commitment means that you see it through to the end, and as far as I’m concerned, I have two years of eligibility left, and two years of classes. I can see the finish line and I’m not slowing down.”
The Exponential Factor 