FEATURE COVER STORY
G RAD UATE P R O FI LE
Nicole Schwery MS ’19 Not everyone can say they landed their dream job right out of college, but Nicole Schwery MS ’19 can. One of the first students to earn a master’s of science degree in biokinesiology with a sports science emphasis at USC, Schwery has accepted a position as a sports scientist with Training Haus, an elite athletic performance and recovery facility in Minneapolis. “I will be in a clinical setting where I get to use various technologies to do research and help people with performance, injury prevention and rehabilitation,” she says. The type of work she will be doing, working with athletes of all types — anyone who is active, she says — is just one of a handful of career trajectories taken by students graduating with USC’s newest degree. Schwery completed her bachelor’s degree in biological systems engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln before enrolling in the program. She chose to study at USC because of the division’s excellent reputation and the abundance of opportunities available in a city teeming with millions. “This program has so many opportunities with different sports teams and other activities where you can apply what you learn in the classroom to a real scenario that wouldn’t be possible anywhere else,” she says. When Schwery reports to the Training Haus for her first day at work, she feels confident in her training at USC. “This program has taught me the scientific research foundations and the applicable biomechanics and strength and conditioning aspects needed to work in this field,” she says. —John Hobbs MA ’14
INMOTION
24
SPRING 2019