General | 3/15/2022 12:35:00 PM

March is National Athletic Training Month. To help celebrate we will spotlight some of the unsung and in some cases unseen members of the Benedictine University Department of Athletics throughout the month. The motto for 2002 is Providing Health Care Everywhere.

The first entry was Assistant Director of Athletics - Sports Medicine and Performance, Nate VanRaden.

Next is Bella Koenig.

Why did you become an athletic trainer?
I became an athletic trainer because I was always interested in a career in the medical field. I was originally interested in either physical or occupational therapy but quickly came to realize that I really wanted to work with primarily athletes. I have an older brother that was in school to become an athletic trainer around the time that I was going to college and talking with him is what really solidified this career for me. After getting into the program in school and doing a few clinical rotations I was hooked, I knew that this is exactly what I wanted to be doing. 
 
What is your favorite athletic training memory?
There have been so many fulfilling moments in my career so far, but probably one of my favorites was watching the selection show with the men's volleyball team for the NCAA Tournament last year. It was so exciting and so happy to see all the hard work they put in pay off. 
 
Do you have any skills or specialties that you would like to highlight? 
I think that I have a talent for advancing athletes through their rehab programs and introducing new exercises when they start to plateau. It's a fun new challenge to come up with something out of the box or more difficult when they tell me something is starting to get easy. 
 
The theme for this year's athletic training month is "Providing Health Care Everywhere".  During your experiences as an athletic trainer, what does that mean to you?
Most people think of athletic trainers working only with athletes (hence the name) but there are so many different settings out there. I have good friends that are industrial ATs, physician extenders, and that work with the Army. Just because our profession is called "athletic" training it doesn't mean we are limited to just treating athletes. It means treating injuries that happen in the workplace, cleaning and dressing a wound on a parent at a volleyball tournament, or treating degenerative diseases in a clinical setting. 
 
What would your advice be to a student who wants to pursue a career in athletic training?
 Get all the experience you can and take your clinical rotations as seriously as possible. Having a wide range of skills and opening yourself up to learn as much as you can is what will make you a great athletic trainer.
 
What is something people don't know about you?
If there's something you don't know about me, there's probably a reason for that. 
 
Where did you grow up?
Mostly in Illinois but also Ohio, New Jersey, and Wisconsin. 
 
Favorite Movie:
The 2003 masterpiece starring Jack Black: School of Rock
 
Favorite place on campus:
Are there other places on campus besides the Rice Center?
 
Walkout song would be:
Keep Me by The Black Keys
 
Favorite food
Sushi, or my dad's cedar plank salmon, or any kind of seafood. 
 
Favorite way to work out
I really enjoy cycling and taking pilates classes.
 
Favorite non-Benedictine sports team
Chicago White Sox, I have been a Sox fan since I was a little girl. 
 
Alma Mater:
Olivet Nazarene University '19
 
Sports played:
I was a dancer. I started going to ballet class when I was 2, started competing when I was 11, and stopped after graduating high school.