Staff Spotlight: Loreen Ryan

3/30/2021 11:29:00 AM

By: Evan Shomo

March is National Athletic Training Month. The month is held to spread awareness about the important and essential work of athletic trainers. TCNJ Athletics will be spotlighting its hard-working and dedicated athletic training staff throughout March.

Today's staff spotlight is Assistant Athletic Trainer Loreen Ryan. Ryan has served TCNJ since August of 2014.

How did you get into athletic training originally?

Surprisingly, growing up I loved playing sports with the neighborhood kids, but I never played competitively in high school so I had no idea what an Athletic Trainer was. I did attend vocational school and a few other colleges prior to enrolling in the athletic training program at Montclair State.
I started off my career path attending vocational school part-time during my high school years. I took an allied health course that allows you to sit for your certification as a Home Health Aide. This kick-started my career path in the medical field. My senior year in high school, I started taking a few college classes at a local community college.
After graduating high school, I continued to stay enrolled at Ocean County College where I graduated with my Associates in Science. I took a few first aid and anatomy classes at that school and loved it. This led me to enroll in the EMT program at Union County College. I fell in love with that line of work and became certified as an EMT.
As I was applying to a four-year college, my older sister who graduated from Montclair State heard about a fairly new program at that school called athletic training, and thought I might be interested. Well, it turns out she knew me better than I knew myself. I am grateful that she steered me in that direction. Athletic Training kind of landed in my lap.

What is it about The College of New Jersey that keeps you coming back?

What keeps me coming back every year is simply the student-athletes and staff. We work with a great group of people at this college. The student-athletes are phenomenal at what they do, both on and off the field. They are so dedicated to their sport and future career goals. I love being a part of their success.

What are your favorite parts about athletic training?

There are so many great parts about being an athletic trainer, but the best part is getting to know the student-athletes both athletically and personally. Helping them along the way, seeing them compete and leave it all on the field, and watching them put so much effort into their rehab to get back on the field and succeed are all great parts of it.
I also love working with athletic training students and watching them flourish after graduating to become the best Athletic Trainers they can be. Outside of working with the Athletic Training students, I also love working with all of our other interns and student workers and seeing them succeed in their career path.
Another great part about being an Athletic Trainer is how it is not primarily an office job. There is always something different going on every day, and you have to be on your toes and ready for anything.
A bonus part of being an athletic trainer is that I get to work outside in the nice weather.

What do you find most special about the TCNJ community?

Everyone that has attended TSC or TCNJ is proud to be from this college. I run into alumni fairly often, and when they see my TCNJ shirt, it always starts a good conversation.

What is it like getting to work with TCNJ student-athletes on a daily basis?

This is the best part of the day. They keep me feeling young and up to date on all the new trends. The student-athletes can be so funny at times and say the craziest things. I love laughing with them and just having a good time. They teach me a lot and what it's like to be dedicated and not give up even through the hardest times.
We try to dedicate the Athletic Training room as a safe place for athletes to come whether injured or not. We make this space a fun interactive place to be, to hopefully help get their minds off of any stress they may have for that day. Knowing that the student-athletes like coming in just to say hi or to answer a trivia question we have on the board for that day is rewarding. The student-athletes know they can come to us for anything.

Who are the people who have helped you the most in your career?

The people who have helped me the most in the beginning of my career are my professors at Montclair State, all my preceptors I had along the way, and my family. The people who help me the most now are my co-workers and all the interns I have had throughout the last couple years.

Outside of athletic training, what do you think people would find interesting about your day-to-day life?

My day-to-day life is not too interesting. It mainly consists of working. If I'm not working, I'm usually hanging out with one of my seven siblings.
A few fun facts about me: I love adventure. I recently went skydiving with a few friends, and that was something on the bucket list, but never thought I would actually do it. It's highly recommended. I love roller coasters, as I basically grew up at six flags. I like snowboarding (I'm still learning at the moment). Water skiing/tubing is also a lot of fun. Bike riding and rollerblading are also on the list of things I like to do on a nice warm sunny day. I grew up playing street roller hockey.
I have a variety of hobbies, perhaps too many. Besides all the adventurous things I like to do, I also like to crochet blankets for others, I like to sew, and I like working with tools (creating things out of wood).
I come from a fairly large family, as I am the second-youngest of eight kids. I have four sisters and three brothers. For all those who get a kick out of my sisters' names rhyming, here you go, they are Loreen, Maureen, Noreen, Doreen, and Colleen.

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