Sue Stanley-Green is an amazing athletic trainer, teacher, wife and mother.  She is a pioneer in the field of athletic training.  She truly lives an empowered life by living her dream dispite stereotypes in sports.  Read about her journey here:

I have been asked to contribute to this blog and share my experiences as a female in the world of athletic training and to celebrate Athletic Training Month.  For those of you who don’t know what an Athletic Trainer is, you are not alone.  We are the best kept secret in the health care arena.  We are the medical professionals that you see running onto the football field to attend to an injured player.   The football field or basketball court is where we are most recognized.  Emergency care for an athletic event is only a portion of what we do on a daily basis.  We take care of all the health care needs of high school, college and professional athletes.  We prevent, treat, and rehabilitate injuries.  We deal with nutrition, eating disorders, heat illnesses, and every other condition that may affect an athlete.  We care for those same athletic injuries and illnesses in sports medicine clinics, in the performing arts (like the Radio City Rockettes, Cirque de Soliel, professional dance companies), the military and industry.  We care for astronauts, soldiers, factory workers, and week-end warriors.  It is a fun, exciting medical profession that allows us to work with motivated, temporarily disabled people and get them back to play or work as quickly and safely as possible.

I started as an Athletic Training Student at the Ohio State University.  I had no idea what an athletic trainer was, but it sounded pretty cool.  It was a combination of working with athletes and “helping people.”   My students still tell me that is why they go into athletic training.  Thirty years ago, women only took care of female sports, and males only took care of the men’s sports.   There were only a handful of female athletic trainers in the country.  I had no idea at the time that I was a pioneer in the field.  Today that realization just makes me feel old!  I fell in love with athletic training and set my goals very high.  I wanted to eventually work as an athletic trainer at a Division I University.  I was told at Ohio State by my male counterparts that I wasn’t as good as they were because I didn’t work with football.  Few women in the country were allowed to work football.  This made me more determined that I would break that barrier. 

After earning my masters degree at Purdue University, (and working with the football team), I spent a year at East Carolina University on my way to fifteen years of working at the University of Kentucky.   I was hired to work with the women’s basketball team and with football.  The Head Athletic Trainer needed help with football and was happy to accept a woman onto the staff.  There was a newly hired football coach at UK, Jerry Claiborne, a disciple of Bear Bryant.  He was an old school football coach that had no desire to break barriers and have a female on his all-male staff or to work with his 150 football players.  There had never been a full-time female athletic trainer in the South Eastern Conference (SEC) who worked with a football program.   Coach Claiborne was a tough, hardnosed coach, but was a great and fair man.  He allowed me the opportunity to work football and to prove myself.  He respected hard work and liked the relationships I developed with the players and their families.  The football players didn’t care about gender.  They cared if I was good at my job and if I was worthy of their trust.  I loved working football.  It was a new challenge every day.  I have to admit it was very cool running out on the field in front of 100,000 people and to be on national television.  What I really loved the most were the players.  They were such big, tough guys to the outside world.  We were lucky enough to see them as young, sensitive, kind, funny kids who entertained us every day.  The movie, “The Blindside” was a great movie and really hit home to us.  We gave a lot to our players, but they gave just as much back to us and touched our lives in so many ways.  Coach Jerry Claiborne was a wonderful man.  He provided me with an incredible opportunity, and it was up to me to succeed or fail.  He and I became great friends and admired each other tremendously.  I learned so much about honesty, fairness and values from Coach Claiborne. 

I had several women mentors along the way who empowered me to set my goals high and to work hard to reach them.  Linda Daniel, my head athletic trainer at Ohio State instilled a strength in all of “her girls” to stand up for themselves and to prove women can be as good as men in athletic training.    My fellow athletic training students at Ohio State fought the gender battles side-by-side with me and are my best and forever friends today.  It turned out the males that I worked with at the University of Kentucky and in the SEC were the ones who empowered me to be the best athletic trainer I could be.  It is important to note that I worked hard to be the best athletic trainer, and not the best female athletic trainer.  I always wanted to be known as an athletic trainer who just happened to be a female.  My friends and colleagues were the ones that encouraged me to become involved in athletic training at the national, district and state levels, to travel all over the world with USA Basketball, and to eventually teach the profession I love.  That Head Athletic Trainer that hired me to work beside him on the football field….  I married him 17 years ago.  He and I were the first couple inducted into the National Athletic Trainers Hall of Fame together 5 years ago, and I was the sixth woman ever inducted.   He and I are back working side-by-side at Florida Southern College, just like we did for so many years at UK.  Today we also share the joy (and challenge!) of raising our 14 year old daughter, Logan.  My athletic training success has everything to do with the support I received from both male and female friends and colleagues, plus the determination and responsibility I felt to break the barriers to make it easier for the females who follow me into the wonderful profession of athletic training.

Sue Stanley-Green – Hall of Fame 2004

Our guest blogger, Tina, is a mother of three and wife of Bill. She is a talented lady and one of our favorite people. She shares her thoughts about a most difficult situation. Thank you, Tina. We all love you for your honesty and humor in the midst of trial.

Motherhood is a daily lesson in humility, at least for me. Take, for example, the little experience I had just a few years ago. I was doing my daughter’s hair for church one Sunday morning (a rare act for me at the time) and—horror of horrors!—I noticed something move. I wanted to rub my eyes. Was I hallucinating? Nope, there it was again. A tiny looking bug, smaller than a grain of rice. In her hair. Yup, it was head lice. Suppressing my desire to jump up and down and scream, I took those ten calming breaths they used to natter on about, and tried to calm down.
I was powerless to prevent a shrill tone in my voice. My daughter knew something big was occurring as I demanded of my husband, “Look, here! What do you think? It’s lice, right?” He muttered something non-committal as I went into full-combat mode. I requested that my husband stay home with the kids—I had church responsibilities, and we didn’t want to infect anyone else—and calmly suggested that he shave the boys’ heads, military-style.
After my due diligence at church, I decided my “ox was in the mire”, and went to our local large-mart to acquire every last lice removal product known to civilized man. Here’s the lesson in humility. Forget buying family planning or feminine hygiene products…true embarrassment is achieved with the perusal and purchase of lice-removal shampoo. To compound my problem, it wasn’t found in the shampoo aisle (where it should’ve been, and I could have been pretending to examine the merits of full-body versus moisturizing while in reality studying the brands of lice shampoo.) No, it was in the First Aid aisle! So, I had to pretend to study bandages (Antibiotic included? Fabric? Plastic?) while surreptitiously gathering intelligence on the various brands of lice shampoo. In the end I purchased a dozen of the most likely-looking boxes, (with overly-optimistic names like “Lice-B-gone” and “Lice-X”) wishing vainly that I had brought a hat and dark sunglasses inside the store. Ah, mortification at its finest!
Long story short, we eradicated the lice threat. As a bonus, I believe I actually learned a few things from the experience. I learned that those so-called lice shampoos don’t work, but that the combs do a fair job getting the nits. Also, five gallons of olive oil worked through the hair, and the application of a cheap shower cap (overnight, or at least four hours) does a fair job at sending those little buggers to their eternal rest. Marathon combing sessions are a great way to bond with your daughter. Additionally, any promises made to your teenager who comes to complain after you made him cut his hair (even though he didn’t have lice), and the subsequent teasing at school forces you to promise (rashly and emotionally) that you will never make him cut his hair again, will be remembered each and every time you make a comment about the hair for the rest of his life. It’s those rash promises that you remember the most. Good times.

Stephanie, our guest blogger today, is always ready to share her kind thoughts with those around her. She is a devoted mother and woman of great faith. She recently took up working with stained glass, and her quiet kindnesses speak volumes of her character. Enjoy!

It is the little things in life that help us along our way. I have read the blogs about empowering us to become better people, mothers, nurturers, sisters, etc. and thought I have little to nothing to contribute and have been putting off blogging as requested by the ladies who initiated this site. Then I stopped at a fast food restaurant on a busy day from running errands, feeling a bit frazzled. As I got my meal and sat down I saw a woman come in who looked more frazzled than I did. As she got her meal and looked for a seat our eyes met and I smiled at her. She seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and sat a couple of tables from me, but facing me. We both ate in a silent companionship, strangers yet somehow acquaintances. As I finished my meal and prepared to go my way, she hesitantly spoke, very softly like she was afraid someone might hear her. She thanked me for smiling at her. She told me she had had a very trying morning and my smile brought her reassurance and comfort. It was a little thing and I don’t know who this sister of ours was, but it made me feel good to hear I had helped bring her comfort in a trying time. I left the restaurant with a lighter step and a smile in my heart. So sisters, smile as you go about your day, you never know who may be watching and needing that smile.

Thanks Mary Lynn for helping to create this venue. It was inspired.

Steph

Shanna is a loving mother, caring wife and works at one of our favorite doctor’s offices.  She brings color to the lives of others and uplifts and builds wherever she goes.  We’re so glad to have a guest blog from her today and hope you enjoy it!

Monday, January 4th was my son’s first day of preschool. I had a lot of mixed emotions, as I have always been a firm believer in staying home with your kids and raising them the way you want (with my beliefs and not someone else’s). Yet, there comes a time in their life when you have to start letting go and teaching them how to survive in this world and not hold them back from growing and learning, and playing with kids their own age. This last year, due to the economy, I had to go back to work. Even though I am very excited by my new journey, I still am a wife and mother trying to balance all that. My son wants to go to school, so I found a program that he will go three days a week. We prepared him for about 2 weeks before, but I think we were preparing ourselves more than him.

When we took him the first day, he was so excited–he even got out of bed on the first call–which is huge for him. We got up, ate breakfast, dressed him, read a Bible story, said our prayers and off we went. We took a few first day pictures. We were so proud of how big he was being. He said bye to us with no problem. It made us both kind of sad, but when you look at the big picture, we must have done something right for him to be so strong and confident in himself.

Parenting is not always easy, but if you just try your best and always put your family first, you can’t go wrong.

Here is a contest prize update:

First prize (1)–MPower Music CD (tunes will be announced shortly)

Second prize (2)–MPower Flower designer tshirts (choice of black, brown, pink, blue, lime)

Third prize (3)–MPower Flower logo bags (large enough for groceries or beach/yoga/exercise stuff)

To enter:

(A) write a guest blog (topic can be anything appropriate to Mpowering yourself, your marriage, your children, your friends, or an empowering moment). 200-400 words (edited). Submit blogs through FB message to one of us or through Contact Us on our site.

(B) cut and paste the following on your facebook status–and for every fan we gain because of you, you will both be entered to win (note: please remember to write your name & your referring friend’s name on our wall so you get credit for your awesomeness!):

Become a fan of http://mpowergen.com like me & you and I will be entered in a contest to win a fabulous prize!!!! Paste this as your status, fan us, write your name & the person who referred you on our wall & you are both entered to win!!!!

Now, get busy and be Mpowered!!!

So, instead of our traditional Tuesday Guest Blog, we are announcing the first MPower Music contest. We are gathering lists of Mpowering songs (if you have any ideas, you can post in comments here or on our Facebook fan page). There are two ways to enter, and you can do either one as often as you would like.

The first way to enter is to write a guest blog. The blog topic can be anything appropriate to Mpowering yourself, your marriage, your children, your friends, or an empowering moment. The blog should be 200-400 words and will be open to our editor’s assistance. Submit blogs through FB message to one of us or through Contact Us on our site.

The second way is to cut and paste the following on your facebook status–and for every fan we gain because of you, you will both be entered to win (note: please remember to write your name & your referring friend’s name on our wall so you get credit for your awesomeness!):

Become a fan of www.mpowergen.com on Facebook like me & you and I will be entered in a contest to win a fabulous prize!!!!

“The prize?” you inquire…well, the prize is a free to you amazingly awesome CD of Mpower music, of course–just for you for guest blogging or spreading the word about us to your friends!!!
Now, get busy and be Mpowered!!!

Our guest blogger this week, Wydetth Maits, gives us great questions to ponder about our society.  She is wife to her dear husband, mother of two, and a great friend to many.  She is the type of person who would do anything for anyone.  We appreciate all her insight.  Enjoy!

We all have had at some point, the misconception that our earthly lives will go on forever. Some of us do not stop to think about writing down the experiences that we have had throughout our lives. We somehow fail to see the importance of passing down to our future generation our thoughts and experiences on important issues that might benefit our posterity.

Texting, e-mail, instant messaging, etc. are tools we all use today, and some of us would   be lost without them. However, these technological devices have almost taken away the need for a handwritten note, which is quickly becoming a thing of the past.

Historians can return and track the history of the Civil War, or any other historical event and find an abundance of letters, books, notes, and personal diaries from which to draw. However, what will become of our generation say, 50 to 100 years from now? Will there be any records of our existence? Will our great- grandchildren be able to describe our lives and draw important facts that will benefit them, such as our health records, our talents, our weaknesses, and our strengths? How will they be able to have all this knowledge if we do not write our own personal diaries, letters, notes, and so forth?

Melissa Williams is an amazing lady!!  I don’t know of anything that she has set her mind to that she has not accomplished!   She is a magnificent wife to her dear husband and mother of two sweet children.  We are delighted to learn from her about the art and delight of couponing.  I often see her post on Facebook about how she saved double of what she spent on her various shopping expeditions.  Enjoy!! (PS–We will post her blog on links as soon as it becomes available.)

Hello everyone! So excited to talk to you about the art of couponing! Thankfully a friend introduced me to this several months back and I have enjoyed every moment of it! Ok maybe not the moments where I realized that I had thrown away a coupon that later would prove to be very valuable!
This “new” way, maybe not new to you but it was to me, is so incredibly awesome I find myself talking to everyone at the grocery store about it! Recently on a spur of the moment, I don’t feel like cooking trip to Publix I spent $50 and about died…I have not spent $50 at Publix in a very long time. The manager happened to be the one bagging my grocery’s realizing my disappointment in the total he said “we appreciate you coming in every now in then without your coupons.” Ok, so I helped increase their profit share on that trip!

To date my best trip I would have to say would be last week, I saved $108.41 and spent a whooping 23cents! They even had to give me one coupon back stating they could not pay me to shop! Another highlight is that a friend gave me a $50 gift card for Christmas, I was able to purchase $325.00 of products with this one card! (If you would like to donate a card to see if I can beat it, I am sure Karin would pass along my address!)

So now that I have your attention, if you are local, my next class is January 7, 2010 @ 7 PM at Magnify Bank, on the corner of 540A and Carter Rd. At this class you can expect to learn all the tricks and tips!

I am currently working on my own personal blog, along with the friend mentioned above who shared this lovely coupon advice. I will be sure to have Karin post it for you to check out! In the mean time my advice is start collecting newspapers…I buy 8-10 a week depending on the coupons (you can check out what will be in the paper on this site: sundaycouponpreview.com). This has been very helpful in planning the amount of papers to buy!
There are many coupon websites out there for you to learn this art. I wish mine were ready for you to view, but–well, its not–so I will share a few of my favorites with you! They are:
Iheartpublix.com
Iheartcvs.com
Dealseekingmom.com
Moneysavingmom.com
Totallytarget.com

These are my faves! Check them out! You will be amazed at what you can find! I never pay for toiletries anymore. Those all come free from CVS, which I would never have thought I would shop CVS for anything other than prescriptions; turns out they have an awesome loyalty program!
There is so much to tell you that one blog post can not possibly cover it all, hopefully this was just enough to spark an interest! If so come to the next class or send me an email!
Hugs, Melissa