Welcome our Northeastern University Co-op, Sam!
Sam is our 5th Coop to come to us in January 2019. His home base this semester is at our WORC site at the Kokokahi YWCA. Sam is a guest blog for us and here's what he has to say about Hawaii and becoming a physical therapist.
In 2013, I graduated high school from Patterson Mill, a small public school in my hometown of Bel Air, Maryland. After high school I took my talents to the University of South Carolina (GO COCKS). After graduating in 2017 from college, my next venture took me to Boston, Massachusetts to enroll in the physical therapy program at Northeastern University. My path towards physical therapy wasn’t always something validated in my mind until about late in my junior year of college. After originally thinking I wanted to pursue medical school, I began thinking about how I could merge my love and interest of sports, athletic performance and healthcare into a career I could be invested in throughout the rest of my life. Soon after realizing the values and interests I wanted to incorporate into my career, it was easy for me to choose PT as my professional endeavor.
In regards to Hawaii, I never knew there was a co-op available to us until talking with previous students about their experiences here. I have always been very open to stepping out of my comfort zone, especially because in the past it has always opened me up to new opportunities that I would’ve never been exposed to if I hadn’t taken that extra leap into the unknown. I saw this co-op as an opportunity to do just that: a step into the unknown that would offer me the chance to see a beautiful part of the world I had never seen, all while giving me the freedom to learn and continue my journey on the path to becoming a physical therapist.
My experience so far has exceeded all expectations I had before getting here. From work to weekend adventures, there is nothing that I haven’t been amazed by. Just kidding, there is one thing that hasn’t amazed me and that is the nattō that Talon offered me to try eating. The combination of the scent and texture was something that I wasn’t too crazy about so I’m not sure if I’ll ever be eating that again…. but I’m glad I gave it a shot. One of the things that was on my to do list before getting here was to skydive so I could see the beautiful aerial views the island had to offer. I’m happy to say I crossed that awesome experience off of my list already! The next thing on my list would probably have to be the Stairway to Heaven hike… I’ll keep you updated on that one.
Throughout my short journey on the path towards becoming a PT, I have been lucky enough to have worked under many experienced therapists. The one thing that has stood out from the work ethic and character of these therapists is that it never fails that the majority of the patients they work with only have positive things to say about their treatment experience. When patients share with me their compliments and positive things to say about the therapists I can’t help but think that I too want to be the kind of therapist that is highly regarded by his patients, coworkers, and colleagues.
Although I’ve had great influences throughout my path to becoming a PT, I’d still have to say title of “Sam’s Greatest Influence” belongs to none other than my mom. My mom is awesome and I don’t think anything else needs to be said on the matter (she comes to visit in April so I’ll try bringing her around to meet everyone). I’d like to finish up here with this: I’ve never written a blog before so hopefully this fits the criteria and gives y’all a look into myself and my life. Until next time…..