Maybe it is our job demands, or perhaps our desire to succeed, or maybe just a part of our personal makeup. Whatever it is, we all seem to have too many things to do. Our schedules fill to capacity, and along with it come our own personal dilemmas. As we handle the trials that are near to us, we tend to lose focus on the trials that our student-athletes may face.

The NCAA-supported Professional In Residence (PIR) program at the Betty Ford Center in Palm Springs, California, forces participants to forget about their personal troubles. In exchange, they have a chance to view, from the inside, the challenges confronted by dependence on alcohol and/or drugs. This program, which has been available to NCAA member institutions' senior administrators, athletics directors and athletic trainers for 13 years, was developed by the staff of the Betty Ford Center in order to "get the word out" to educators who can provide a preventative approach to young people that may be at high risk for addictive behaviors. The center and its staff have a genuine interest in reaching our student-athletes before problems arise. They want us to be their spokespeople for preventative education.

I had the good fortune to experience the PIR program in May of this year. As is the case with most professionals in the athletics arena, my schedule was cramped. It was difficult for me to whittle out time to take in yet another educational opportunity, but as a member of the Drug-Education and Drug-Testing Subcommittee of the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sport, I felt it was my duty to experience first-hand the drug-education opportunities that are provided for our membership. So, I took a leap into the unknown, and applied for the program.

I felt I was making a significant sacrifice of time to make this commitment even in scheduling the shorter of the course selections, the three-day course. I surmised that a little exposure was better than none.

Following acceptance into the program, I had a few months to anticipate the experience. I confess that my eagerness was enmeshed in a looming sense of anxiousness -- a fear of the unknown, as they say. I admit that my imagination could have gotten carried away as my thoughts focused around expectations of an experience about which I had very few facts. The informational packet gave enough insight necessary to get me to the proper location on time, but gave little else to curb my curiosity. I had not been exposed to alcohol or drug dependency and was nervous about the possibilities. My thought was at least I would be able to bring back tidbits that could be used with the student-athletes on my campus.

To my relief, the experience was nothing like I had envisioned. From the time we stepped onto the Betty Ford campus, the transformation of understanding began. The classroom sessions offered the philosophies of the center, the biological and physiological development of the disease, and personal testimonies from instructors who had made the journey through the recovery process.

There were patient reviews, where all support staff communicate to the others the weekly progress for each patient from their specialized perspective. The patient program is an all-encompassing program where spiritual, emotional, psychological, physical, and medical aspects are addressed, and the reviews offer information about each area. We attended an Alcoholics Anonymous session with all patients in attendance and we spent time in the residential areas, of which there are four, attending group counseling sessions and getting to know the patients during free time. All time was spent on the campus, except when we went to the hotel for sleeping.

After going through those three days, I come away with this advice: Apply for the long course. You will not be disappointed. The entire experience is filled with impact from the outset. And although every part of it is valuable, the consensus among the eight PIR members in my group was that the patient interaction left the most indelible impression. The five-day experience provides more of that.

The NCAA views the Professional In Residence Program as a valuable tool and provides funding for attendees. Transportation to and from home to Palm Springs is the only expense incurred by member institutions that elect to send a representative for this experience. Senior administration at your institution will have further information and an application.

This program provided a wealth of educational information for me to take back to my campus in order to assist with preventative educational opportunities. Campus programming and communication ideas were among them, but there was a bonus.

Though I initially decided to attend with the desire to bring information back to my campus, what I did not expect was that I would also take away experiences that provided an immediate impact on my own personal life. I now must de-emphasize my own stresses, take time to actually feel my daily experiences, and re-emphasize my purpose on this planet. Some call it spirituality.

I encourage you to apply for the long course in order to absorb the total experience more fully. In hindsight, I wish I had.

Rochel Rittgers is chair of the drug-education and drug-testing subcommittee of the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports and director of athletic training services at Augustana College (Illinois).