In honor of Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month in May, NATA Now is highlighting some of our Asian American and Pacific Islander leaders at the state, district and national levels.
Seeing an athletic trainer dedicated to serving student athletes at his high school inspired NATA Research & Education Foundation Recruitment Committee member Samuel Lee, EdD, ATC, to pursue the profession.
“It turns out that individual was Brian Robinson, [MS, ATC,] who served as a full-time athletic trainer at Glenbrook South High School for 37 years,” Lee said. “He also chaired the NATA Secondary School Athletic Trainers’ Committee for a time and eventually received recognition as an NATA Hall of Fame member many years later. I am grateful for the example he was – though he himself will tell you that he had so much fun that he felt like he ‘never worked a day in his life.’”
Lee said when he pursued a career in athletic training, he aimed at being the best athletic trainer he could be. Now, this athletic trainer is not only passionate about the profession, but also contributes to advancing it through volunteer leadership in research and education.
Dive in to learn more about Lee’s leadership growth and impact on his community in Hawaii.
What was your first volunteer position within the athletic training profession and why did you get involved?
In 1997, when the Hawaii State Department of Education placed full-time athletic trainer positions in every public high school, I was fortunate enough to work in one of those positions. However, I was busy raising a young family and couldn’t volunteer as much as I would have liked. In 2005, certain public schools, including the one where I worked, were given second athletic trainer positions based on school populations and documented workloads. My school was fortunate enough to receive one of those second athletic trainer positions. With this additional assistance, I felt like I could now help more in terms of volunteerism within athletic training. I started to help with the coordination of our state’s annual athletic training student aide workshop. This opportunity led to more ways to serve at the state and district levels.
Tell us about your current position as NATA Research & Education Foundation Recruitment Committee member and what you hope to accomplish in this role.
The NATA Research & Education Foundation Recruitment Committee is charged with developing, maintaining and facilitating a strategic, inclusive and equitable recruitment system to ensure well-qualified and diverse individuals apply for available volunteer positions. Our goal is to find these applicants for each open volunteer position posted. We also look to identify strategies and best practices to optimize the recruitment of diverse board members, committee chairs and committee members who represent the NATA membership.
Why is representation in leadership important and how does it impact the profession?
Representation in leadership is important because a greater cross-section of health care workers can bring so many more things to the table in providing patient-centered care. If your health care profession’s leadership can represent broader ethnic perspectives, your opportunities to provide better patient-centered care also increases.
How has volunteering helped you grow personally and professionally?
Volunteering within my profession has helped me grow personally and professionally in terms of understanding better how people can serve our association individually and corporately. I have learned about recruitment, leadership development, certain technical skills, interpersonal skills and how nonprofit organizations work.
What’s your fondest memory of serving so far?
I greatly enjoy the camaraderie of athletic training professionals working together to achieve a common goal. Though the goals may change based on what volunteer service positions you help with, the camaraderie among the individuals who make up the team or committee is a big part of why I desire to serve. Seeing successful outcomes to a project (or projects) and enjoying it with others – be it at a state, district or national level – brings about satisfaction and fond memories.
What advice do you have for other athletic trainers who want to give back to the profession?
Reflect on what originally made you want to get into the world of athletic training. Think about all those who may have helped you along the way. What did they have to do? How did they volunteer? In what ways may they have given so that you could learn, do and grow in the world of athletic training? Then, start with something small that you can give back to your athletic training professional association or community. Develop friendships within those service opportunities. See where those small steps lead you in terms of seeing, trying and doing more as you meet more like-minded (or even not like-minded) individuals and groups who want to move our profession forward. Volunteering, in any capacity, for any organization, isn’t meant to bring you financial gain; however, volunteering in terms of giving back or moving something forward can bring about a “richness” in your life that can’t necessarily be quantified.
