Meet Miriam Sanchez-Torres. This member of the Class of 2023 came to UCF from Puerto Rico to pursue her MAT – or Master of Athletic Training. While many students secure jobs in the sports industry, the athletic training profession is expanding, and graduates also enter careers supporting wellness across a wide variety of industrial and commercial fields. Sanchez-Torres will start her career in one of these non-traditional roles, signing on with Amazon where she’ll be part of a team designed to keep employees healthy and strong, as well as aid them in injury rehabilitation.
Miriam Sanchez-Torres
Hometown: Morovis, Puerto Rico
Degree: Master of Athletic Training (MAT)
What will you be doing after graduation?
After graduation, I will be taking the exam to obtaining my credentials and from there, start working and growing within my profession. Currently, I am getting ready to begin my first official job as an athletic trainer in the U.S. with Amazon. I will be functioning as a part of the larger team onsite (including a wellness manager and injury prevention specialist). My duties will include helping to minimize the risk of injury through awareness, education and proactive engagement, developing a first aid care plan for employees recovering from an injury, and leading any emergency injury response at the site. I will spend a lot of time on the warehouse floor engaging with employees and managers to help create and encourage safe work habits.
What are your long-term career plans?
My intention is to enter the new avenues of the profession, such as the military and large industries. I would love to be able to work with athletes and veterans with prostheses one day.
What accomplishment from your time at UCF are you most proud of?
I am truly proud of my personal and professional growth. One of the achievements that I am most proud of was being the president of Iota Tau Alpha, the athletic training honor society, and working hand in hand with my classmates and for the benefit of first-year students. I am proud to be able to be not only a leader, but a mentor and help for those students, as well as represent my culture and people who look and sound like me.
What did you love the most about your time at UCF?
I will be eternally grateful for the warmth and kindness with which I was treated from day one, by the faculty. Their culture of inclusiveness and commitment to respect and teamwork will be lessons that I will always take with me.
What was your favorite class, professor, or experience at CHPS and why?
I honestly say that the quality and empathy that emanate from each of them, makes choosing only one almost impossible. I worked with all of them, and the four of them [athletic training faculty members] took care of me, guided, and always welcomed me with open arms. On a personal level, my goal was to develop my evaluation and diagnostic skills to the fullest, and this involved practicing a lot, including overtime and out of class. For this, I will be eternally grateful to Dr. Jennifer Plant, since she donated her time in and out of class, and she always had a helping hand for me.
