"I wash their practice clothes, their uniforms, and I listen to their problems and give them my age- old advice," she said. "It's 'words of wisdom' by Martha."

Martha, who is majoring in fitness management with a minor in athletic training, has been at Wartburg for almost 11 years.

Beside working in the athletic department for the past three years, she has also worked in the bakery and in housekeeping.

She's been taking classes here for two years. And if all goes well, she should be certified by 2004.

A typical day-in-the-life of this aspiring athletic trainer starts off with laundry, which can be as early as 5 a.m., if she has a class at 7:45.

"It's not bad. It's a good start to my day," Martha said.

"I don't mind doing laundry-maybe it's because I'm a mom and it's part of everyday life."

After she finishes washing the smelly sweats and uniforms from the night before, she usually walks or works out in the PE Complex.

"It's a given-if you work in the PEC, you have to work out," she joked.

By 10:30 a.m. Martha is sorting mail and doing inventories for each athletic department.

The afternoon is filled with talking with coaches about upcoming events and making sure the clean laundry is sorted out for the students to pick up at 3 p.m.

She's in the training room by 4:00 p.m., which she said is the best part of the day.

"Laundry is not that exciting," Martha went on. "I mean, learning how to do athletic training is probably the highlight, when I get to work with the wonderful student trainers."

"She's like our mom," said student trainer Rachel Kammerer, a junior. "She'll say anything and everything that she thinks of!"

Martha agrees. She traveled as a student trainer with the softball team in the spring and the football team in the fall, so she feels she knows the athletes pretty well.

"Athletes know where they stand with me. If they have a bad game, I usually tell them," Martha added.

The campus favorite also has a family outside of Wartburg athletics.

She lives on an acreage south of town with her husband, Dan, and sons Marty and Christopher, who attend Waverly-Shell Rock.

Martha would love to continue to work with Wartburg athletes, but also said she thinks high schools will be looking to hire athletic trainers in the next ten years.

"I've always wanted to do this sort of thing-become a certified trainer, even at the age of 44," she said.

Athletes will surely be in good hands if Martha continues to work here, and she said she hopes she can.

"The athletics department has the most diversity of anywhere on campus. It's fun being around college kids and getting to know athletes from year to year. Of all the places to work on campus, I think it's the most fun."

Thanks, Martha.