Corinne Gaddis and athletic training classmates
Corrine, second from right in center row, with classmates

Corinne Gaddis’s version of turning lemons into lemonade: turning a sports injury into a career.

Corinne was a junior at Coupeville (Wash.) High School when she pulled a hamstring while long-jumping. To get back on track, she worked with an athletic trainer. Talking with him got her thinking about what to study in college. That led her to the WSU College of Education’s Athletic Training Program.

Corinne Gaddis, College of Education highlight student
Corinne Gaddis

“I’m interested in how people get injured and how they heal,” says Corinne, who will be among the highlight students at the May 7 commencement in Pullman. “I’d love to teach health and fitness or be the athletic trainer at a high school.”

She’s already taken the necessary test to become a certified athletic trainer. She also earned a health and fitness teaching certification. Next step: WSU’s Masters in Teaching Program. She’s enrolled for fall 2011, when she will be back working with the WSU football team. This year, she was assigned to the football Cougars as part of the 1,500 hours of clinical experience she needed as an undergraduate. In the upcoming season, she’ll be a paid intern.

“I’ll be going to all the away games,” she says. “I only went to UCLA last year.”

Assistant Professor Kasee Hildenbrand nominated Corinne to be the College of Education’s highlight student. She describes Corinne as an exceptional scholar, a mentor to younger students and someone who, despite a natural shyness, has learned to hold her own when dealing with those strong-willed guys on the gridiron.