The Department of Kinesiology and Health Studies organized a student seminar titled “ASK KHS” (Art and Science of Kinesiology and Health Studies) Student Symposium on April 11, intended to educate upcoming graduates on careers in the health and sports fields after graduation.
The planning committee for the symposium included Kinesiology and Health Studies Department Head Eddie Hebert and included guest speakers from around the state. Head Athletic Trainer for the New Orleans Saints, Scottie Patton, gave a talk on athletic training within the National Football League (NFL).
Focusing on the health facet of the symposium, Cheryl Klein of the Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living touched on the issue of smoking in the workforce in a presentation titled “Let’s Be Totally Clear: Working in Community Mobilization and Awareness.”
The “ASK KHS” symposium’s Keynote Speaker Mackie Shilstone was perhaps the day’s most amusing guest with a speech meant to focus specifically on athletic careers after graduation, titled “So Where Do You Go From Here? The Next 3-5-7 Years.”
“I want to talk to you about what it means to be the best,” said Shilstone, “at what you do because only one or two of you will ever rise to that. And you know what, I believe I am [the best]. I’ve gone up against some of the biggest guys in the world and destroyed them.”
Shilstone is most prominent for training over 3,000 professional athletes including Serena Williams and Roy Jones Jr. He also concentrated mainly on his achievements as a renowned professional athletic trainer as the director of the fitness principle at East Jefferson General Hospital in New Orleans.
Shilstone displayed equipment used by professional athletes from his personal collection of famed successes, from tennis rackets to baseball bats. The keynote address also included short clips of Shilestone training professional boxers, and he talked about strategies he used like training boxers with their mouthpieces in. Because of this, and countless other accomplishments Shilstone said he “may go into the Boxing Hall of Fame as the only man in history to ever take three separate people, moving up in multiple divisions, and winning.”
Shilstone also read multiple letters which athletes and network executives had sent him over his lengthy career. Directing his attention to the students, Shilstone closed his hour-long address with rhetorical questions and statements aimed at approaching Kinesiology and Health Studies graduates.
“You want to be the best?” said Shilstone. “You want to study and train? Or do you just want to be mediocre? There’s a lot of mediocrity. How far are you willing to go?”
“You need to start thinking about your [career] because when you walk out the door here and you leave here, I won’t be here for support. You have to make a commitment versus a contribution. If you do that, you lift yourself.”
Another speaker at the symposium was former Southeastern Lion football player and alum William Dede. Dede had to stop playing football in college due to a concussion and became a student coach. With his dedication and passion to sports management, he has built a sturdy resume and is now the Events Coordinator for the Mercedes-Benz New Superdome, New Orleans Arena and Champion Square. His lecture on event planning gave advice to students on steps for success, and Dede let everyone know that working 50 to 60 hours a week is not easy but if you really love what you do it will come naturally.
“You have to work for the job you want, not the job you have,” Dede said.