Athletic trainer's research recognized nationwide, can now run with scissors

Amanda Murree

Staff Writer

Her t-shirt reads, “only athletic trainers can run with scissors,” and the Sports Science Department at Wingate University has trained her well. At the top of her class, senior Jennifer Bossi has learned throughout her four years at Wingate University what it takes to be an exceptional athlete, student, leader and worker.

From Bristol Conn., Bossi has always known she has wanted to turn her love for medicine and sports into a lifelong career. “It [athletic training] was a perfect fit for me because I was able to combine my love of sports with my academics,” said Bossi. Athletic training is a major much different from others offered on the Wingate University campus. Not only do student athletic trainers have to attend classes and complete regularly assigned homework, they also have to complete a certain amount of clinical hours outside of class, complete a book of competencies, and pass the certification exam as a senior to get a job. Bossi said, “In addition to the work we get in class, we have a huge book of competencies about 500 pages that we have to ‘master’ by one of our instructors throughout our four years here.”

This past semester, Bossi’s day consisted of regular classes, cross country practice and clinical hours with the men’s basketball team, for which she attended all practices and games. Also, she helped with a physical therapy program put in place to help three basketball players recover from major knee injuries. “The rehab with them was a great learning opportunity for me because I got to watch them progress from post-operation to playing by the end of the season,” said Bossi.

When Bossi was assigned to the men’s basketball team halfway through the first semester of her senior year, she was still running competitively on Wingate University’s women's cross country team and had to manage her time between both her academic requirements and maintain her scholarship for cross country. “On a normal day, I would attend classes, go to cross country practice and then head straight to basketball practice right after my own. It was definitely a challenge for the last few weeks of the fall semester. Not only did I have to eat after basketball practice, I had to finish my homework and hold weekly meetings for Phi Epsilon Kappa,” Bossi said.

Phi Epsilon Kappa is the honorary Sports Science Fraternity here at Wingate University and as the fraternity’s president, Bossi holds weekly meetings to discuss fundraising, upcoming professional conferences, social events and recruitment events.

Phi Epsilon Kappa is not the only honor listed on Bossi’s resume; her outstanding summer research has also received a lot of attention not only at Wingate University but across the nation as well. “I did some independent research with Dr. [Traci] Gearhart [assistant professor of sports sciences] on the prevalence of the Female Athlete Triad in college students. I got to go to multiple conferences to present it including the National Conference of Undergraduate Research at the University of Montana and have won numerous awards for my research,” said Bossi.

Other awards that Bossi has received throughout her years here at Wingate University include Women in Sports award, Student Major of the Year, Most Outstanding Female in Sports Science award and the June P. Galloway Scholarship award.

With conferences, meetings, academics, athletics and clinical hours to manage, Bossi also finds time to work as a library assistant the Ethel K. Smith Library at Wingate University. Although her time as an undergraduate is quickly coming to an end, she looks forward to what the future has to offer. Bossi said, “After graduation, I am going to be a graduate assistant at Central Connecticut State University working as an athletic trainer. I will also be taking classes in their physical education graduate program. Right now I am just concentrating on deciding what my interests are so I can go into something I love.”