Do you like sports? Steven Clister does.
But Clister enjoys sports from a completely
different perspective. He spent his summer
working with Penn State University’s men’s
and women’s basketball teams off of the
court.
Clister is a senior at Lock Haven
University, majoring in recreation
management with a concentration in fitness.
For 10 to 12 hours per day, Clister would
work with the head strength and conditioning
coach, as well as the assistant strength and
condition coach, as they helped get the
teams ready for competition.
Clister would come to work at Penn State
University in the morning and concentrate on
the team’s hydration and nutrition for that
day. He would restock all of the
refrigerators with protein drinks,
Gatorades, and health snacks for the teams
to eat throughout the day.
During the day, Clister would work on speed
and agility drills with the head and
assistant strength and conditioning
coaches. It was Clister’s responsibility to
set up and learn the drills. Early in his
internship he was instructed to shadow the
drills then run through them on his own.
Eventually Clister created his own drills
for both the men’s and women’s teams.
Clister’s most memorable moment while
interning with the Penn State University
Strength and Conditioning department was
when the athletes started to refer to him by
name.
“I was no longer ‘that guy’ or ‘the new
guy,’” said Clister. “The players were no
longer shy around me and I was no longer shy
around them. They began to come to me with
their stretches and accepted me as one of
the conditioning coaches.”
One thing that Clister learned about himself
during his internship was that he was able
to multi-task quite well. One situation
where Clister learned of his multi-tasking
ability was when he started his own weight
training sessions. He would be in charge of
five or six people at a time where he would
have to keep track of when they had to
rotate and who was in his group. While
doing this, Clister also had to coach all of
the athletes at the same time as well as
coach them individually when needed, keep
the workout at an upbeat pace, and keep
control of the overall workout.
While interning, Clister had the opportunity
to work with and learn from many of the
strength and conditioning staff, but one
coach in particular made a difference in his
internship. The Assistant Strength and
Conditioning coach, Ben, really showed
Clister respect during those eight weeks and
trained him well.
Another helping hand in Clister’s success at
Penn State University was the classes that
he took at Lock Haven University prior to
the internship. “Pretty much all of the
recreation classes that I had already taken
helped me during my internship,” said
Clister. Some classes that Clister
mentioned were kinesiology, anatomy and
physiology, and physiology of exercise.
Only required to work five weeks for his
internship, Clister decided that he wanted
to continue with Penn State University for
three more weeks. Clister continues to
travel to Penn State to work with the teams
every Sunday.
Clister’s internship has furthered him in
his field because Clister now knows what
fitness is all about. “Now I might want to
get a new view on things and go into
personal training just to widen and build on
my experience,” said Clister.
“Don’t go for an internship that is easy;
don’t look for one just because it’s paid or
close to home. Get out of your comfort
zone,” advises Clister. “You only think on
your feet when you are in these types of
situations. Also…be friendly!”
Steven Clister found his internship with
Penn State University by speaking with his
advisor and making new contacts; however,
the Career Services office is a great place
to start your internship search. If you’re
unsure about where to begin looking for an
internship, contact Anita Casper, Internship
Coordinator for Career Services, at
570-484-2247 or
acasper@lhup.edu,
or visit her office in the Career Services
Office at Akeley 114.
Back to Overview of Internships |
