Lindenwood Magazine - Spring / Summer 2019

Pomp & Circumstance Mother and Daughter Graduate Together, Twice by Brian Vorce ONTINUING an impressive string of publication success by Lindenwood University exercise science students, faculty, and alumni, a team consisting of two current Lindenwood students, a Lindenwood alumna, and a faculty member recently produced an article that was published in the high-quality peer-reviewed journal Sports Medicine-Open. Patrick Harty, a current graduate student; Megan Cottet, who earned her bachelor’s in exercise science in 2014 and master’s in human performance in 2017 from Lindenwood; and James Malloy, a current undergraduate student in the School of Health Sciences, were authors on the paper along with Dr. Chad Kerksick, associate professor of exercise science and director of the Exercise and Performance Nutrition Laboratory. Titled “Nutritional and Supplementation Strategies to Prevent and Attenuate Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage: a Brief Review,” the paper addresses how athletes minimize soreness and maximize their recovery from strenuous exercise. “Several different nutritional ingredients have been researched for their ability to help with this recovery,” Kerksick said. “Several papers have been published, but few papers have summarized the outcomes from these studies.” Cottet, who currently works for Lindenwood as an exercise science instructor, said she started the project her first year of graduate school in 2016. “I dove into finding all of the research studies that had anything to do with nutrition interventions for muscle damage and found close to 200 articles,” Cottet said. “After spending over 200 hours reading, charting, and writing, we decided to press pause and wait for the rest of the crew to complete their part of the project. Two years later, Chad and I had Pat finish it up for one of his many independent study projects, and James did an awesome job making the charts and tables for the paper.” The paper took between 8 and 10 weeks to organize, prepare, and submit to the journal. Kerksick said he is proud of this paper and the work of the team. “At the end of this semester, I will have been at Lindenwood for five years,” Kerksick said. “During that time, we have seen exponential growth in the number of students involved in all aspects of the research process. This one stands out because only current or former Lindenwood students are co-authors on the paper and it has a combination of graduate and undergraduate students involved. It will be a continual resource and reference for current and future investigations.” Malloy, who will graduate in May with a bachelor’s in exercise science, said he hopes the research will help people better understand delayed-onset muscle soreness. “I believe our diligence resulted in a comprehensive review that will greatly benefit its readers and the future study of this topic,” Malloy said. “Assisting in this project provided me great insight into the research process, and it gave me much to look forward to when I pursue graduate education.” n James Malloy, Chad Kerksick, Megan Cottet, and Patrick Harty C PUBLISHING SUCCESS COMES TO Exercise Science Team by Brian Vorce 10 | SPRING/SUMMER 2019 Real EXPERIENCE SPRING/SUMMER 2019 | 11 Michele and Maya Rodriguez, mother and daughter, earned their master’s degrees at May Commencement after earning bachelor’s degrees from Lindenwood in December 2017. Michele, who earned her bachelor’s in healthcare management, is earning her master’s in human resource management. Maya, a criminal justice graduate in 2017, is earning her master’s in criminal justice, as well. “I knew that my mom always wanted to earn her degree, but it was always placed on the backburner in order to financially provide for the family and to be physically present in the household because my dad was in the Navy and was deployed often,” Maya said. “This is her dream fulfilled and no longer deferred. I am proud of her and honored to share this accomplishment with her.” While living in Virginia, Michele owned a beauty salon, but she relocated to St. Louis to support family members in need of help at the time. Michele realized she had no marketable skills to get a decent job and did not know any clientele to rely on cosmetology. Shortly after Maya enrolled at Lindenwood, Michele enrolled in Lindenwood’s School of Accelerated Degree Programs (ADP). Realizing she could complete her undergraduate degree at the same time as her mother, Maya transferred to ADP. Maya and Michele said completing their degrees together let them discuss research papers and practice presentations with one another. “ADP is perfect for working adults, and attending one class for four hours per night allowed for us to maintain a wonderful school, work, and home-life balance,” Michele said. “We worked very hard to encourage and support each other and agreed that we would continue with ADP to get our graduate degrees.” After the duo walked across the commencement stage together in 2017, they came back for more in 2019. “For me, its surreal,” said Michele. “This has been a dual accomplishment that we can share for generations. I am extremely proud of Maya, she did this while being a single parent to a toddler, undergoing brain surgery to remove a tumor, and working a full-time job. What an exemplary display of commitment and long-suffering!” n Lindenwood University REAL SUCCESS LINDENWOOD UNIVERSITY