The Master of Arts in Education program has brought influential value to my educational career. Being a student athlete, I have not had the opportunity to work in any specific field up to this point, so this program has enlightened me to more opportunities and a clear vision on how I choose to pursue my career.  It has been one of the most beneficial courses I have participate in up to this point, the Master of Arts in Education (MAED) program. It changed me in the way of realizing what I have next in my life. It helped me prepare to research and learn about what I want to do the rest of my life. A portfolio (this course) is something every person needs when looking for a job. I already have people asking for my portfolio which at the beginning of the semester, I really didn’t know what it would be used for. Understanding how to use technology (creating a website) has been one of the best tools for me because it is something I have always wanted to do. I love how each week, we give feedback to our peers and tell them what we truly think. This is like holding them accountable and giving them ideas that could help their website. Two sets of eyes are always better than one. My greatest weakness has always been writing papers, and throughout this program it has helped me. Individual classes helped me change the way I saw my responsibilities by most importantly, time management. I always love to get things done right away, but since I have been in college, I have learned to take my time on assignments to come up with greater ideas.

           Another dimension of this course that really benefited me was the collaboration amongst peers in regard to professional learning and discussion. At this point in our educational career we are fine-tuning our educational beliefs, values, and expertise. The discussion boards allowed the communication to be continuous and valuable regarding topics that are commonly debated in the educational world today. I really appreciated to conversation topics, as it gave me perspective and understanding of various matters that are present in today’s society. As addressed above, the creation of the website was also an experience that allowed me to create a place for my professional assignments to be displayed in a creative and pleasing manner. This is something I will be able to return to throughout my educational career.

Throughout my experience at Michigan State University, there were numerous courses that benefited me and allowed me to grow. Each course offered something valuable that I can apply to my future career. Certain courses helped me more than others, but every course has played a part in my educational experience in a unique way. I elaborate on three courses specifically throughout this thesis. Within each explanation, I elaborate on what the course taught me, how I can apply it to my future career, and what specifics, within the course, that struck me most. Three courses elaborated on throughout the course of this synthesis are:

• KIN 868 – Skill Development of Athletes

• KIN 829 – Safety and Injury Control

• KIN 855 – Psychosocial Bases of Coaching

Alongside participating in these educational courses, the greatest choice I made was to join the Michigan State University basketball team because of the life lessons I have learned through the 5 years. This experience brought so much value to my future and is worth paying tribute to. Playing for a Hall of Fame coach is something I have dreamed about since basketball was my passion. I learned how to keep myself and teammates accountable, especially by being one of the team leaders my 5th year, even though the hardest thing to do in life is self-evaluate. Looking into my teammate’s eyes, telling them they are not doing their job right and it is a problem is extremely hard to do, but it has to be done when they are slacking. This impacted me as I endured my educational courses when it came to leadership and offering constructive criticism. When I make mistakes, I have to be the first to stand up and call myself out, telling everyone I messed up and it is my fault. So, if that could be counted towards an individual class where I learned the most within my time at Michigan State, that would be it.

 

Three Specific Educational Courses that Have Impacted Me

 

            The first specific course that has impacted me was Kinesiology (KIN) 868 – Skill Development in Athletes. This course was made up of writing assignments, video lectures, and many questions. The unique part of this course was that all of the writing work was done on a google doc, while the readings and videos were done on d2l. Motor development was the most important information I learned this whole course. Finding solutions when young athletes cannot do the drill, such as using a smaller ball to work on the form of the athlete, were ideas I came up with. This course affected my thinking because of the importance of coaching athletes at certain ages. This course helped me understand that there is always a solution to a problem, there is never a stopping point. For example, there are reasons athletes are shooting the way that they are, and there are ways to fix them. This is where I really understood the effects of burn out in athletes and how to keep athletes engaged in practice. The end project was to create a practice plan where we would keep the athletes motivated the whole time. This is very applicable to all ages and types of athletes. The reason I thought this was beneficial is because I am interested in coaching high school athletes, so I could relate to it.

             This course allowed me to understand how to coach which is beneficial when I have to coach a team in the future. This team may be on the court or in an office; coaching takes leadership and sacrifice. Within coaching, another important aspect to understand is the type of athlete you are coaching, the age of the athlete, and the goals of the athlete. KIN 868 allowed me to gain knowledge on how to meet the athlete where they are, and to support them in ways that are appropriate for their age. The diagram shown below, titled Peak Performance, shows how a coach and support an athlete to reach their peak performance. There are several factors to consider. For example, the coach needs to understand where the foundational priorities are of the athlete and support them from that starting point.

 

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            The second specific course that has impacted me was KIN 829 – Safety and Injury Control. This course was beneficial in understanding the safeties of being a coach. Little things like creating a relationship with the athletic trainer, so there is a trust between each other. This benefits the athletes because the trainer can come talk to the coach if they see something is wrong. Also, it is important, as a coach, to understand the actions needed to be taken if there is danger within the program. This is where the two courses tied together with motor development how the body moves and the proper movements. As a coach, this is very important because I don’t want athletes doing the wrong movements and hurting themselves when I could have solved the problem. The majority of this class, we learned the extrinsic and intrinsic factors of coaching.

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            Above is a picture describing extrinsic vs. intrinsic. What made this so fascinating to me was learning the difference between the terms and how they apply to teaching/coaching adolescents. Intrinsic factors are genetic (gender, race, genetic polymorphism of the drug metabolism, genetic diseases) or physiological and pathological conditions (age, liver, kidney, cardiovascular – functions, diseases) while extrinsic factors are environmental (climate, sunlight, pollution), culture (socioeconomic factors, educational status, language,) smoking/alcohol (medical practice, disease definition/diagnostic, therapeutic approach, drug compliance, regulatory), food habits/stress (regulatory practices/GCP methodology/endpoints). As a coach it is important to understand the difference between these two factors and how they relate to the athletes you are coaching.  Understanding the child as a whole will allow the coach to approach the athlete in a specific way. Understanding the intrinsic motivations for particular athlete will create a foundational point for coach to grow from. This same principle applies to understanding extrinsic factors for athletes as individuals and also as a team. A team, as a united force, needs to have certain expectations and principles derived from how the team is extrinsically motivated.

 

            The third specific course that impacted me was KIN 855 – Psychosocial Bases of Coaching. This course has prepared my understanding in how important it is to create a friendship and authoritative trust with each athlete I coach. Many athletes struggle with anxiety and depression and have no one to talk to. As a coach, I have to prepare these kids for the real world by teaching life skills through the sport of basketball. This is a course where I understood how to create programs to help these athletes in case they are going through some mental issues. Dealing with failure of missing shots and losing games can be extremely frustrating. Situations like these is where the figure of the coach impacts the physical and mental performance of the athlete.

 

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The picture to the above describes what an athlete goes through when they are participating. They are in a constant circle of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. When one of these are interrupted, the athlete can dig themselves into a huge mental hole. I have learned how athletes have struggled being able to express their feelings because they always think it ‘wouldn’t happen to me.’ This is where the coach has a trust with their athletes is beneficial because he can talk to them and understand when something is bothering someone.

 

          Psychologically, all athletes have different needs that are to be met within their developmental years. An athlete at the age of 5 would be coached differently than an athlete who is 18; however, the skeleton approach to how they are coached is based off of the same principles. This is proven by Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. A diagram of this is show below:

 

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This diagram is representing that all needs of children/athletes are the same, and in order to reach the highest potential of their performance, they need an authority figure to provide them resources and affirmation through the following stages of: physiological needs, safety needs, the need of feeling loved, having self-esteem, and then self-leading themselves to be the best they can be. This stems from the belief and confidence that they can perform and withstand the challenges and obstacles of being a great performer in any role that comes their way.

 

Final Thoughts

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          Through the MAED program, there are several courses that provide important information in their own way; three of them being: KIN 868 – Skill Development of Athletes, KIN 829 – Safety and Injury Control, and KIN 855 – Psychosocial Bases of Coaching. These courses, amongst all others and the Masters of Arts in Educational program, have allowed me to feel ready and confident to work with adolescent athletes. The KIN classes were the most interesting and allowed me to really understand how to coach athletes in order to reach the individual in all aspects. One of my goals is to coach high school basketball, and these courses have allowed me to learn about all the different dimensions of being the best coach; he/she reaches the emotional, social, physical, and phycological, and psychosocial needs of the child. As I continue to job search into something that I enjoy, I will be applying what I have learned from this program to best suit myself for a position. Life skills are taught through the program that I did not realize just like how coaches teach life skills through their sport.