My purpose is...

       Very intriguing  that you would ask a Freshman in college what they believe their purpose is ... I believe my purpose in life is to help people. I moved out of my house a stable financial situation where no bills needed to be paid I had it easy all I paid for was gas, and instead I decided that moving in with some family and friends was a better calling because they were all in bad financial situations.
       Helping people doesn't really sound like a whole lot of fun and it really isn't much better than it sounds, but the sense of gratitude you hear from them after everything is said and done is amazing.
       Someday I aspire to become a certified S.M.A.T. Graduate from Missouri State University and go on to help high school or maybe even college or professional athletes around the country protect themselves or even help rehabilitate the injuries they sustain while doing what the love. I mean what more could you possibly want in life than to see the smiling faces on all of those people that you took your own time to help and rehabilitate.
        While Athletic Training helps others I believe it has made an impact on my life as well before I could ever hope of changing someone else. The fact of the matter is nobody who wants to be in shape wants to take advice from someone who has terrible dieting habits and looks like they couldn't do 20 push ups. So Sometime last year I started dieting and exercising on a more regular basis and went from 270 to 250 lbs in a matter of a few weeks.

(Athletic trainer Max Pagel works on senior Mark Whiting’s injury in the athletic training office. Photo by Mary Henning.)