Dreaming Big and Often: An Essay
for Students and Professors
Tommy Boone
Professor and Chair
Director, Exercise Physiology Laboratories
Department of Exercise Physiology
The College of St. Scholastica
Duluth, MN 55811
Life is full of unanswered questions and
challenges. Age doesn’t seem to help, except that people get caught
up in what they do for so long that they forget to raise questions.
After a while, work justifies living, even if the work is not inspiring.
As a university teacher and as someone who enjoys teaching and learning,
I’m occasionally asked about work. What makes it important?
How did you decide to be an exercise physiologist? Of course, my
answers don’t really help others too much. They have to struggle
with finding the right answers for themselves. Life is a constant
effort to understand why we become what we are.
Self-actualization is that which comes
from within us as we begin to realize that what is most meaningful in what
we do with what we have. Life isn’t about money, although money is
important. Life is about how your knowledge and skills will be used
to help others. I believe that each of us has an important purpose
in life. If we take time to discover what is within us, what we value
as important, then we either intentionally (or, sometimes, unintentionally)
find out who we are and what we are living for. When we come to that
understanding, we realize the importance of what we are doing on a scale
much beyond a salary.
Those who come to understand their purpose
can be both excited and fearful about their ability to live up to the expectations.
Some move forward, some move backwards. The latter is defined as
doing nothing. They are often times alone in their disappointment.
Without help, they float through life attached to whatever is easy, comfortable,
or popular. Those who step up to the plate are astonished to realize
that fear is okay. It doesn’t have to bring you to your knees.
It is okay to feel less than capable, even inferior to others. It
is okay to not know if you can do it. However, it is not okay not
to try. Life is about trying, and we do that mostly through our minds.
Like riding a bicycle for the first time, the sense of doing it was not
in you but you did it anyway. You wanted to ride the bicycle and
you did it.
Are you asking yourself about where you
are going to be in a few years? Are you concerned with your academic
major? Is it the right one for you? Are your parents going
to be happy with your decision? Is your sense of purpose encouraging
you to major in exercise physiology? Everything depends on the answers
to these questions. For many of us, the future of what we become
can be traced to our undergraduate and/or graduate decisions. How
we will think, react, feel, and relate to others can be traced to our teachers,
how they did their job, and how they influenced us. So, what we are
talking about is your life and your future. What you are doing today
in college courses will enable you to realize your dreams or not!
This is why I think it is very important that you read this article.
It is written for you.
A college degree doesn’t come with a promise
that the world will be a wonderful place after graduation. Some degrees
are not that helpful in locating a job, unless advanced degrees are obtained.
The purpose of the American Society of Exercise Physiologists (ASEP) is
to help ensure that the undergraduate degree carries with it the opportunity
to access a professional position with both credibility and financial stability.
Certainly, this is not a new idea. But, it is seldom linked to more
traditional degree programs like kinesiology with a concentration in exercise
science. Most, if not all, of these types of programs actually have
little to do with a professional job linked to a professional education.
Instead, as is clear on most department web sites, such degrees exist primarily
to enable a student to make application for physical therapy or some other
recognized healthcare profession.
Since the founding of ASEP in 1997, there
is a new vision and a new academic and professional opportunity for students.
Everything has changed. Today, exercise physiologists have their
own Code of Ethics [1]. This was not the case before 1997.
Imagine the problems that would result from nurses not having a Code of
Ethics over their many years of working in hospitals. It would be
almost impossible, as it would be for physical therapists, occupational
therapists, or athletic trainers. The path to exercise physiology
professionalism has been defined for decades of relatively little organization.
Fortunately, this has changed. Now, students who believe exercise
physiology is “exactly” what they want to do can join a professional society
of exercise physiologists. The ASEP organization is all about the
important factors that associate with professionalism. It helps tremendously
in giving students a chance to plan ahead and to find a job as a board
certified exercise physiologist [2].
The decades of not having a professional
organization to support the concerns and issues of all exercise physiologists
are over. This doesn’t mean that the thinking and feelings that associate
with those decades without a professional organization are gone.
Far from it. For a variety of reasons, many hard-working academic
exercise physiologists over the past 10 to 20 years have not completely
embraced ASEP to make the beginning something special. However, like
all things new, there is a proving period. There is a learning period.
Both are important to unlocking the benefits of the paradigm shift.
The 21st century view of exercise physiology is bold and right. Members
of the organization believe that the students’ best days are ahead of them
because their future is not tied to what was but to what is. The
new reality is full of hope and opportunities. Now is the time for
students to embrace the ASEP vision [3]. The highway to professional
opportunities as an exercise physiologist is open. The path is marked,
and it’s achievable.
Unselfishly serving members of the ASEP
organization, the three different Boards [4] have seized the hearts of
many to ensure that accreditation, board certification, and licensure are
available to every exercise physiology student. Today, two of the
three boards are reality. The third, licensure, is an obvious struggle
for any new organization and/or profession. But, it will become reality
too.” Time is on our side. Our ally is time. We should
not, therefore, forget our blessings. What ASEP has accomplished
in such a short period of time is worth noting. So, stop squandering
your tuition money, and find an academic institution with an academic major
in “Exercise Physiology”. It is not just important. It is imperative.
No one can become a nurse unless he or she majors in nursing. Shall
I press the point further? No one can become a physical therapist
unless he or she majors in physical therapy. Why is it, therefore,
okay for a student who graduates with an academic major in physical education
with a concentration in exercise science to refer to him- or herself as
an exercise physiologist? Obviously, it isn’t right. It is
not okay. Others in the academic community understand this all too
well. Students deserve the best information about careers in exercise
physiology from their university teachers, department chairs/directors,
and others.
The failure of those who oversee departments
and programs of study to update thinking about exercise physiology and
the career reality of their programs has resulted in little reason for
celebration. For example, listen to John who said: “I worked
hard to my degree in kinesiology. I paid my tuition bills.
I survived undergraduate school on many fronts. Now, I feel betrayed.
There are only a few jobs, and there are a lot of people like myself looking
for the same job. Even if I should get a job, I don’t think that
I can make it financially on the salary. I will need to work odd
hours at a second job. Why didn’t the advisors, teachers, and department
head tell me the truth early on? I’m thinking really hard about going
back to school and getting a degree in nursing. I don’t want to,
but I don’t see any other way around the situation I’m in.”
There you have it. Absolute disappointment.
Who is to blame? Is the student to blame for believing the information
that the department gave him was accurate? Are the exercise physiologists
in the department to blame? How about the department chair?
The answer is that everyone is to blame. The academic exercise physiologists
are the primary problem. Why? Because they continue to allow
the past to define the future (and, they do it regardless of the negative
effects it has on their students). Few have looked to the ASEP accreditation
process to upgrade their academic programs from fitness professionals to
exercise physiologists. They are the problem. They understand
the dubious future that lies ahead of their students, but knowing the problem
doesn’t automatically allow the thinking to correct it.
Adoption of new ideas is a hard thing for
many people, especially those who have gotten comfortable with their way
of looking at an issue. It is a gift to be able to see beyond where
you are. Few can do it quickly. Most require decades of wear
and tear to adopt what is obviously important. They don’t get the
message early on, nor do they understand the words of those who are involved
in the change process. Morning comes and the afternoon goes, nothing
is changed. They still fail to get the spirit of change. They
are oblivious to the needs of their students. Their sense of worth
appears to be defined by another publication or another professional meeting,
all of which cultivates a definition of an exercise physiologist who is
not a healthcare professional. This doesn’t mean that those who enjoy
doing research are not important to the field. Rather, because the
“practice” of exercise physiology is important to the foundation of building
a profession, extra effort should be given to the design of new career
opportunities for students (not more research publications).
In other words, what matters is not the
professor’s resume, but his or her inner disposition to cultivate an upscale
academic program. The only appropriate expression of this new thinking
is the all-important ASEP accreditation to capture and hold the attention
of other healthcare professionals. We think that by enrolling in
an accredited program, the kind of opportunities already available to other
accredited programs will be forthcoming to our students. This is
at the heart of our students’ problems. Once corrected, it will attract
new students for the right reasons. No longer will students have
to settle for less. This is good news. There is the promise
of increased opportunity, respect, and credibility. It’s that simple!
So, what do ASEP exercise physiologists want you to believe? It is
all about giving up the old way of thinking for the new way. Thinking
that will overcome the barriers of our tradition in exchange for manning
a new world of opportunity is genuinely an awakening for our students.
Many of us have wanted this awakening for
a long time. Why? Because we never intended our students to
be at a disadvantage! Nothing shapes a student’s life more than the
commitment of his or her teachers make to help. Hence, it is important
that teachers right the wrong in the academic settings. Students
cannot make it when they are going in the wrong direction. Only when
they and their professors focus in the right direction on the right target
can both begin to move forward in attitudes and opportunities. This
is the reality we must achieve. It is also the hardest step of all
because it results from taking action. Ideas are like anchors.
The truth is that some keep us from moving when we should move. Learning
to do what needs to be done is clearly a game of the mind. Eventually,
all ASEP members will learn to do first things first. And, at the
end of the day, when the fear is controlled, each of us will end up with
a fresh sense of what we are and our commitment to a new place.
In summary, when somebody says, “I’m thinking
about joining ASEP,” do you respond with a polite “really” or do you say,
“Great! With your help, we can collectively make a difference.” Together,
our focus will get the job done (especially when we refuse to give up).
Never give up! We will be remembered for daring to make a difference,
for allowing our minds to wander outside of our history, and for dreaming
big and often.
References
1. American Society of Exercise
Physiologists. (2003). ASEP Code of Ethics. [Online]. http://www.asep.org/asep/asep/ethics.htm
2. American Society of Exercise
Physiologists. (2003). The EPC Manual. [Online]. http://www.asep.org/asep/asep/EPCManual.html
3. American Society of Exercise
Physiologists. (2003). ASEP Vision. [Online]. http://www.asep.org/asep/asep/vision.htm
4. American Society of Exercise
Physiologists. (2003). The Center for Exercise Physiologyonline.
[Online]. http://www.exercisephysiologists.com/
