The Beginning

Starting college as a freshman at Northern Illinois University, I had no idea what I wanted to major in. I started my college career marked as undecided. After my first semester, my parents didn't want me to continue at the university without a major. Determined to find what was right for me, I created a list of things I was passionate about which led me to the major of Nutrition. I looked at the career outlook and disappointingly, it was lower than I expected. I definitely wanted to be involved in the health field but I just couldn’t figure out in what capacity. After further research, I felt like there weren't many opportunities for someone with a degree in Nutrition. It was back to square one. 

I started to think in-depth about things that made me happy such as exercising, sports, and being involved in health care. My next thought was to become a personal trainer. As I did more research, I realized I would be limited to what I could do as a personal trainer. Moving on, I thought about my love for athletes and how I would love to interact with them, so I researched Athletic Trainers. This career would allow me to help athletes return to their sports after an injury. As I continued doing research for Athletic Trainers, I continuously came across Physical Therapy. Physical therapists also have the opportunity to work with athletes. The career seemed promising, and I felt that my opportunities within physical therapy were greater than the other two professions. From there, I looked into more details about Physical therapy and I felt like it aligned with my passion. During this time, it dawned on me that I didn't know a physical therapist, never shadowed one before, and knew zero to nothing about what it took to be a physical therapist. But having arrived at this conclusion after so much research, I was determined to see where it could take me.

After that, I made an appointment with my advisor to change my major from nutrition to pre-physical therapy.