The Harris College Magazine
- Winter 2008 ·
9
8
· Harris College of Nursing & Health Sciences
Turning
pain
into
POWER
To overcome physical, emotional
and mental abuse is outstanding, but
to turn that pain into power is an even
greater accomplishment. TCU senior and
nursing student Damaris Akinniyi was
able to remove herself from two abusive
relationships and move forward into a
promising life throughher determination
to attain a higher education.
“Higher education was not an
option for me; it was the only way for
me to become my own person, because
education is the key to opening doors,”
Damaris said. “I got myself a start by
giving myself a start.”
As a child, Damaris was repeatedly
told by her father she would never
amount to anything and that she was
a failure. “When I was 14, my hand
was seriously damaged and broken
by my father,” Damaris added. School
became less important and her grades
began to drop while she fell into a deep
depression.
“One day I realized that I was the
only one who could alter my destiny.
Not one person had that power over me.
Suddenly I had a passion for success,”
Damaris described.
Her passion soared through high
school, as she broke records in track and
class became a haven for her happiness.
Negative words from her father turned
into positive energy in her life. Damaris
fell intoanother abusive relationshipwith
her husband after enrolling in college.
She worked full-time and went to school
full-time. The control and violence within
her relationshipwithher husbandcaused
her to almost lose her life again. After
leaving the relationship behind, Damaris
made school her priority.
At TCU, Damaris decided to study to
be a nurse. “Nursing allows me to help
other people by showing themnot to use
a situation to push yourself down, but to
uplift, especially in young women.”
Through generous grants,
scholarships and loans, Damaris can
make a better life for herself. “God
has been supportive in helping me to
continue school,” Damaris said. In 2005,
Damaris received the Texas Conference
for Women scholarship sponsored by
the Johnson & Johnson Campaign for
Nursing’s Future.
The Harris College of Nursing &
Health Sciences has provided Damaris
with the skills she needs to enter the
workforce as a nurse. Through classes,
labs and clinicals, Damaris has learned
how to excel as a nurse.
“We are taught about diversity of
cultures and how to approach them in
the hospital. Without understanding
how the patient views life and the world,
a nurse cannot help the patient,”Damaris
explained.
Damaris is also a part of the Student
Nurses’ Association at TCU and Life
Group Christian Ministries. She has also
conducted research at the University of
Arizona on gastric ulcers in mice and on
HIV/AIDS in women as well as helped to
write a report on the research.
After graduating, Damaris hopes to
work in the emergency roomor intensive
careunit at ParklandMemorial Hospital in
Dallas. She explained that working in the
intensive care unit will allow opportunity
for growth and learning as well as being
able to focus on patients.
The Harris College of Nursing &
Health Sciences has allowed Damaris to
fulfll her dream of becoming a nurse
and becoming independent. - HM
K
entaro“Kenny”Ishii grewupplaying soccer in Japan andhas
always had a great love for the sport. During his younger
years, Kenny sufered several injuries including ACL and
MCL sprains, a meniscus tear, a fractured fbula, a fractured rib,
a fractured ulna, a fractured radius, a concussion, and numerous
ankle sprains, which ended his soccer career.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t an athletic trainer at Kenny’s
high school to treat his injuries or to educate him on how they
could be prevented. So Kenny took it upon himself to become
the frst athletic training student in his school’s history.
Kenny sought information about athletic training anywhere
he could fnd it. He read books, attended workshops and visited
with “trainers” in Japan. However, Kenny found that most
“trainers” in Japan were actually therapists that only treated
people after they had incurred an injury. They did not attempt
to prevent injuries as an athletic trainer would do. That is when
Kenny decided he wanted to come to the United States and TCU
to study athletic training.
Currently, he’s a junior in TCU’s Athletic Training Program. He
came to TCU from the city of Mishima in Japan where his parents
and grandmother still live. His three older sisters, a 28-year-old
and 26-year-old twins, all live in Tokyo.
When he frst arrived at TCU, he spoke minimal English and
enrolled in intensive English
courses to help him better
understand the classes for
his double major – athletic
training andmovement science.
Through hard work and
determination, he’s been able
to achieve a 3.3 GPA.
According to Sean Willeford,
Director of the Athletic Training
Education Program, “Kenny is
self-driven to learn. He absorbs
the information, goes above and
beyond and has a strong work
ethic.”
Every summer, like many of the students in the program,
Kenny has had internships to learn more about his chosen feld.
He’s had hands-on experience with the Ben Hogan Sport Therapy
Institute, Kansas CityWizards of the MLS and the Dallas Cowboys.
As a senior, Kenny has a general medical rotation, along with
his fellow senior students, with Dr. Sam Haraldson, the medical
director of the Athletic Training Education Program and TCU’s
teamphysician for intercollegiate athletes. ThroughTCU’s athletic
department, Kenny and his fellow athletic training students have
experienced frst-hand athletic training in Division I sports.
Since high school football and athletic training are so
prominent in Texas, a lot of athletic training students have also
had internships at schools in the DFW area. Many have gone on
to become athletic trainers in the Metroplex.
“Many of the athletic trainers in the area are TCU alums,
which may lead to jobs after graduation,” saidWilleford.
A new aspect of the program allows students to gain
a broader knowledge of athletic training by experiencing a
variety of settings and clinical instructors. To accomplish this,
Kelley Henderson, Clinical Coordinator for the ATEP, established
rotations at Trinity Valley School with program alumni Tim Jones
and Sara Kinsel.
“Through opportunities like this, our students are able to
get enhanced hands-on experience,” said Willeford. “They learn
a lot and are very prepared through the education program
here at TCU and their feld experience. In fact, the majority of our
students have jobs or graduate assistantships before graduation.”
Kenny has been able to beneft from opportunities and
a well-rounded education. His goal is to become an athletic
trainer for a professional soccer team and later to become an
athletic training educator in Japan. He wishes to eventually have
athletic trainers at high schools in Japan so that young athletes
won’t have their careers cut short by preventable injuries like his
own. - SK
Sports
Fan
Japanese soccer player
learns
to manage sports injuries
Kenny Ishii provides physicial therapy for TCU football player, Aaron Brown