In what may seem like a devastating situation for an athlete, former Ontario student Ashia Jones saw the silver lining in her circumstance and turned it into a future career path.
It all started during her senior season of basketball at Ontario High School. Jones was playing in tournament game at Ashland University and suffered an extensive injury to her knee—a tear to her meniscus, MCL, and ACL.
Jones said that she was given the go-ahead to keep on playing per advice of an athletic trainer and worsened her injury. “I don’t want anyone to have to go through that kind of experience,” she said.
And since then, Jones has been on fast-track towards receiving an athletic training degree from Michigan State University.
Originally from Detroit, she always longed to return to her home state and attend MSU.
Now a junior, she has successfully completed the course pre-requisites and was accepted into the athletic training student program.
Admission alone is a feat to be admired. Undergraduate Athletic Training Education Program Director Tracey Covassin, stated, “It requires a long application process, and of the 50 students that applied, only 25 were accepted.”
According to MSU athletic training program website, clinical rotations rotate within campus athletic training rooms of Duffy Daugherty, Jenison Field House, Munn Ice Arena, Jack Breslin Student Events Center, and IM West. Off-campus sites involve local high schools, sport medicine clinics, physical therapy clinics, and local or regional hospitals.
Jones was assigned to the Spartans’ football team. “I do a lot of EMS medical help and stand on the sidelines during games to help the team. Sometimes I’ll come in after practice and help assess what’s wrong with the athlete,” she said.
She added that the program requires a lot of time—during summer camp, she spent 80 hours a week with the football team. “I was basically living the life of a Division 1 college athlete,” she said. “I would spend 15 hours in the training room, in addition to taking 12 credits of college courses.”
She attends all of the home football games and some of the away games, along with practices (including two-a-days). Simultaneously, she maintains a 3.5 GPA.
“Ashia has a great work ethic and works very well independently, as well as with the team. She’s very dedicated to the profession of athletic training,” said Covassin.
For spring semester, Jones will be assigned to East Lansing High School where she will assist with all of the high school sports in the athletic training department.
Next summer she hopes to intern with DJO Global, a international brand that specializes in products used for rehabilitation, pain management and physical therapy.
As for post-graduation, she has her eyes fixed on UCLA for graduate school where she intends to earn an MBA and eventually work for DJO Global.
“I went to California for the first time last year and fell in love with state and university,” she said.
No matter where she ends up, she’s reminded of the support given by the Ontario community. Ontario Stingel Elementary Guidance Counselor Tod Petit stated, “I got to know Ashia and her family when she first came to Stingel as a fifth grade student in Lisa Huml’s class. It is not surprising to me that she attends Michigan State, since she is originally from that area. I appreciated the fact that Ashia always wanted to make sure that her friends got along with each other; if they didn’t, she would figure out a way to fix the problem.
“So it looks like Ashia went from fixing friendships at Stingel to fixing injuries at Michigan State. I am very proud of her accomplishments.”
“So it looks like Ashia went from fixing friendships at Stingel to fixing injuries at Michigan State. I am very proud of her accomplishments.”
– Tod Petit
