Sitting at the family dinner table, then eight-year-old Sophie Smithey held her fork in her right hand and knife in her left. That was enough to trigger her grandmother into slapping the metal utensils out of her hands. Sophie remained seated but now confused and scared.
This behavior had been going on for four years. Her grandmother would mistreat Smithey and her brother if they broke rules stemming from her strict Christian faith. Smithey’s grandmother held her back from making her own choices, forcing her to go to church. When they refused, she would play the victim, Sophie had a moment to feel for herself.
Now, senior Sophie Smithey wants to connect with other people in the same way she connected with herself through the medical field with the experience she gained through athletic training.
“You know, sometimes when you’re growing up with depression,” Smithey said. “You don’t really want to leave the house on an early Sunday morning.”
In middle school, Smithey had joined the drill team, taking that inspiration from her sister.
“I was in a really unhappy place in drill team,” Smithey said. “I had realized that was really my sister’s niche and I needed to find my own thing.”
During a high school CTE fair while she was in eighth grade, that’s when it crossed her path and she found herself wanting to join the athletic training program.
“I remember they had all the high school programs come to Moorhead,” Smithey said. “Saribeth and Beka were the two people to approach me and they brought me over to their expo table–I ended up loving the concept of the team.”
Smithey already planned to go into the medical field and athletic training became her pathway.
“In the first few years, I was that really mean person that nobody wanted to approach because,” Smithey said. “I was just so afraid of letting my guard down because of how my past was like being bullied and struggling with mental health.”
Athletic training opened new opportunities for Smithey, and grew her as a person, especially social anxiety.
“It happened a lot with girls soccer,” Smithey said. “I would just make conversation with them while like taping their ankles.”
Every moment Smithey had alone with an athlete, became a catalyst for conversation. Smithey did it over and over again, shaping her into who she is today.
“I really have enjoyed training,” Smithey said. “It’s something that I’ve found that really saved my life from all of my personal battles and all of my traumas that I’ve had.”
Smithey had used athletic training to regain her confidence, it even helped her find peace with religion.
“I have found myself in a couple of really tough moments emotionally and it felt like I had nobody else to turn to,” Smithey said. “I felt so alone I knew I needed to find God again and feel that comfort in knowing if all I have is God, I have all I need.”
