I am an Exercise Science major wishing to pursue a career as an Athletic Trainer or so I thought. Going into the semester that most certainty was my plan, but now I have set off on a new path. My first assignment for my EPA 201 class was to shadow a professional in the profession that I was wishing to pursue. I thought to myself 'oh this assignment will be easy, i can just shadow an athletic trainer here.' But then my professor said something that completely changed my plan for my life. He began to talk about Strength and Conditioning Coaches which immediately struck my interest. I decided to explore this career because although I had no idea in the world what this coach did, I was intrigued by the title of this specific career. As I began search for Strength and Conditioning Coaches to shadow, it was not hard. Strength and conditioning was a widespread career, so i was able to find 6 schools in the area that I could shadow a Strength and Conditioning Coach at. For my shadowing experience I chose to shadow Ryan Duggan at Brush High School. My first day of shadowing quickly cleared up my misconception of what Strength and Conditioning coaches did and did not do. Despite that my interest was immediately sparked because I always knew I did not want to spend my days at a desk and the weight room was a great alternate. Ryan Duggan's career allowed him to spend his days in the weight room surrounded by athletes. I loved watching the work that he did with both athletes and non athletes alike.My exploration of Strength and Conditioning did not end there with my shadowing project, I have had the opportunity to shadow at Notre Dame College this fall as well. Comparing the two programs, I saw two programs with similar goals, but differing means of reaching the goals that they set. The athletes, sport intensity, equipment, and coaching were all different between the two institutions. Despite these differences both of these coaches showed me that they were dedicated to helping the athletes achieve their goals in any way that they could. I fell in love with the creative freedom that the coaches had. I fell in love with the idea that the weight room would be my office. I fell in love with the impact that these coaches were making on the athletes that they trained. Above all I fell in love with a career that a year ago was not even on my radar.