Internship Highlights: Aaqil Alpuri at Seattle Pacific University Athletic Training Department

This post is part of our “Intern of the Week” highlight series written by Kelsie Luong, Class of 2028. For this spotlight, we spoke with Aaqil Alpuri (Class of 2029), who is interning with the Seattle Pacific University Athletic Training Department.

What is your internship and what do you usually do there?

• My internship is at SPU and I work with their sport teams, each day I am learning about different injuries and how to treat them, with priority towards ankle injuries, because my project is on that. I work with 3 mentors, all specialized people in PT, and I interact with everyone, with some students I talk more, with others I talk less, but I have interacted with basically everyone through my convos that involve my mentor, I just jump in as I am shadowing. As of right now it mostly shadowing, it is slowly getting more hands on when ankle injuries are involved, the goal is to get more and more hands-on experience as time goes on, during soccer season is my best chance, because soccer causes most ankle injuries.

What is the most fun part of your internship, and the hardest part?

• The most fun part of my internship is just learning and interacting with true professionals regarding the sport teams, I always wanted to be an athlete but with those hopes fading, I enjoy the opportunity on being on the sidelines that still help teams win. The fact that I get to interact with college students is also very fun, and I get free access to all their games and practices which for me is the best part. I plan on using that for soccer season. The hardest part is with accepting that the start will be slow and more shadowing, but that is more of an acceptance problem I had at the start, once I realized that it becomes more hands on, that feeling left me, and now there is no real hard part anymore.

Why did you pick this internship?

• I picked this internship because of how it revolves physical therapy and sports, being a frequently injured player, I had lots of experience of PT and that got me slowly interested. But just casual PT, which I had the chance to intern for, didn't seem as interesting and fun as working for a team, where everything has tighter and bigger community that has that competitive aspect that I love. But mainly for me it was that sporting environment, which I like to be around.

How does your mentor support you as an intern?

• My mentor supports me by being a backbone when things get tough, because the body is very complicated, it is comforting to know that there is someone that can support you when it gets really difficult. But the best thing about my mentor is that she gives me the freedom and trust to do it my way and how I want it, and not just regarding the project, but everything, she is very flexible, which makes me feel comforted and it feels good to know that you are supported. My mentor pushes a more individual work idea with her being available at any point, which allows me to work at my best, while having support ready at anytime. But it is that flexibility and openness that is really amazing.