My Journey to Exercise Science

From a young age, my parents always encouraged me to go into a STEM-focused field. My father was a chemist for many years. Becuase of this, I always wanted to grow up and be a scientist just like him. As you could expect, when I told my parents that I wanted to be a doctor when I grew up, they were elated. For a long time, I had a plan to go to college, major in pre-med, go to medical school, and become a doctor.

Finding PT

After attending a martial arts class at the school I had trained since elementary school, I met one of our new students who told me that they were a physical therapist. I immediately dismissed it thinking that PT was nothing more than a glorified personal trainer. But after talking with them more, I realized that being a physical therapist was so much more than that. They told me a major in exercise science may be a perfect fit for me.

Next semester, I took a few classes in exercise science and kinesiology just to see what it was all about. I loved it. Those classes were the ones that I looked forward to every week. It was the perfect combination of exercise and medicine and I knew this was that “fit” I was looking for. I declared my major as Exercise Science with a PT track. In May of 2021 graduated with my B.S. in Exercise Science in Spring of 2021.

PT Experience

Although I said at the beginning of this post that I was a more “traditional” track to PT, this part of my journey was anything other than traditional. I applied and got accepted to several PT schools with ZERO volunteer/observation hours. Now that’s not to say that that is a strategy that I would recommend to ANYONE, but it was just how it worked out for me.

With the COVID-19 pandemic, almost all physical therapy schools made adjustments to their observation/volunteer hour requirements. Many schools eliminated the requirement all together. I will be honest, if this adjustment had not been made the year I was applying to schools, I likely would have taken a gap year to strengthen my application.

Luckily, I did have a few observation hours (maybe 12 total for an assignment I did during my coursework) in other professions such as occupational therapy, personal training, and athletic training. Although these outside experiences were brief, I was able to draw on them and reflect on them in my application.

Why PT Schools Have This Requirement

In reality, PT schools have this requirement for hours in different settings to make sure that the students that they are accepting into their program are committed to physical therapy. Because of this, I emphasized in my PTCAS application all the experiences that I had with interviewing and learning from the physical therapists that I trained in martial arts with. I made sure to portray my confidence in my decision to pursue PT.

Academics and Extracurriculars

Academically, I was a solid A/B+ student. My GPA was around a 3.45 at graduation and my GRE scores were: Verbal – 147, Quantitative Reasoning – 157, and Analytical Writing – 4.5. Although grades and test scores are critical in the application process, it is also important to consider everything around academics as well. Many schools emphasize a holistic perspective in their application review process. This means that they want to see not only that you had good grades, but that you took the time and effort to go above and beyond outside of the classroom.

I would say that my extracurriculars and leadership experiences were where I truly excelled in my application process. Where I lacked in solid observation and volunteer experiences, I made up for with my involvement and leadership. I knew going into college I wanted to make the most of my experience. I did not disappoint my 18 year old self in that aspect.

My Involvement

My first week of undergrad I joined a sorority which was my jumpstart into leadership. By the end of my four years, I had held 6 different chair/director/committee positions, served on my executive board for my sorority, served as a recruitment counselor, and served on the executive board for the governing council of sororities. I was also a member of the greek honor society Order of Omega, which recognized the top leaders in Fraternity and Sorority Life. In addition, I was involved outside my sorority with leadership programming planning, and volunteered with voter engagement in local elections. I joined the pre-physical therapy club, as well as the exercise science club to gain more experience as well.

Martial Arts Training

I worked as an instructor at my martial arts school, Blue Wave, where I helped teach a preschool and kids class. It was here that I really fell in love with working with kids and using exercise to help people. I built and applied my professional skills here as well. I learned how to lead, work with kids, communicate with parents and clients, and manage a business. During my time instructing there, I also found a new family who encouraged me and supported me. I attribute a large amount of my success to my time at Blue Wave.

All of these experiences were learning opportunities. They helped me find the path that I was meant to follow. In my application, I referenced each one of these experiences. I explained how each of them have made me a better prepared professional and person. I used my experiences to drive my passion and that passion is what PT schools are looking for.

The Lessons I Have Learned

I want to leave you with one of the most impactful pieces of advice that I have ever received. That is no matter what stage of life or how much experience we may have, we always have the opportunity to be a student. Even if we are the teacher or the leader of a project, we should always look for what we can learn from our experiences.

It isn’t about how many hours I had or the number of leadership positions I had. It was more about how I used those experiences to learn and grow. Physical therapy schools are looking for individuals who want to pursue lifelong learning. They want to know that you are in the right mindset to continue to grow after you graduate from their program. They are looking for innovative thinkers and individuals who are constantly willing to challenge themselves.