Toby Brooks

And that's kind of what the failure and the setback can do in a high achiever.

So I applaud you for sticking through that tough season because clearly it's paid off.

how would you say your experiences as an athlete and later as an athletic trainer shape who you have become personally and professionally today?

Absolutely.

I often say that being an athletic trainer trained me to think of pretty much any other job as part-time work.

And with that comes a sense of obligation, right?

That's why so many ATs, if they leave, they've got side hustles or other pursuits because 40 hours a week is usually done by the middle of the day on Wednesday for most athletic trainers.

And then the other piece of that is

And I hate it personally in myself.

I mean, you saw a glimpse of that when I got choked up just chatting with you.

But we love people.

And, yeah, we love sport.

But I would argue that the best athletic trainers I know are such wholehearted leaders.

And they're not just concerned about whether or not their patient's one rep max got better.

They might not have the tools and the resources at their disposal, like you said.

In 2006, we were struggling with a very blunt concussion instrument in the SAC or any of the early efforts to try to standardize how we assess concussions.

As technology improves and as science moves forward with the work that you're doing, we're getting better at that.

And if you can couple that love for people slash patients with cutting-edge medical care, now you've got the best possible scenario.

And that's what I love in the young professionals that I see today is they're so much better equipped with things that I didn't have, and that makes them better clinicians.

Yeah, I agree.