Dr. Shawn Eagle

And there were GAs there that you probably still remember that were like, you know what, this is pretty good.

Like you should try to publish this.

And it was like, I didn't know you could do that.

You know, that's an option.

And, you know, they helped me kind of guide them.

towards doing that and we did it and you know having that publication on a cv is what got me my first job in research only a few years later wow but i i thought about your show and my pivot because the story of how i got here is very interesting because you're right this is not

This doesn't happen very often from an MIT degree.

I don't think any of my peers are in research, and I still get to hear from many of them.

But I went the typical route.

I ended up getting an athletic trainer position at my alma mater high school and went home to my parents' house after graduating and started that job in the summer.

I was pretty miserable.

I was acting like it.

And my football coach and my basketball coach were still there.

And they were big figures in my life.

And a couple, five or so years after graduating as the captain of those teams, I'm back in those locker rooms as a master's level athletic trainer.

And I think I...

I think psychologically I was back to where I was when I was 16, 17, 18.

I wasn't acting very professionally.

I was reading books during practice instead of watching the practice and talking to people.

You know, eventually the AD comes to me and it's like, I don't think this is a good fit.