It's Never Too Late; If You Want Something Go Get It
When I walked into my first physical therapy clinic as a volunteer, I was extremely excited and very nervous. I couldn’t wait to see what my future would look like as a physical therapist. Unfortunately, not even an hour into my shift, my excitement completely faded away. After that hour, I concluded that physical therapy was a useless profession. Throughout the day, I saw patients come in, meet with the PT for 10-20 minutes, and get setup on ice/heat for the remainder of their treatment session. After a week of volunteering at that clinic, I decided to consider a different career path. The words that helped steer me away from physical therapy, came from none other than a PT at that location. I will never forget the day when the physical therapist came up to me and said “I don’t think PT is the right career for you. Maybe you should consider being a nurse.”
Four years later, after that experience, I surprisingly just finished my first semester in DPT school, and I could not be any happier.
So, what happened? How did such a negative experience not keep me away from being a PT? Well, it was all thanks to the experiences I had after that clinic.
After obtaining my bachelor’s in kinesiology, I realized that the easiest job to get with that degree was being a PT aide. I worked as an aide at a skilled nursing facility(SNF) that cared for individuals living with HIV/AIDS, ALS, and Huntington's Disease. It was at this facility that I finally saw the importance of physical therapy. As a physical therapist, you have the ability to help ease the pain of individuals, and to create innovative tools that help patients accomplish a variety of tasks. During the exercises, the manipulations, and soft tissue mobilizations, physical therapists have the opportunity to converse and listen to their patients.
During my time at the SNF, I saw all sorts of patient goals be accomplished. I met a patient determined to learn how to transfer himself from a car to the wheelchair, in order to get out and watch a movie with his friend. I helped ambulate a patient that many members on staff didn’t think was capable of walking ever again. I also saw how comforting a couple of stretches can be for patients living with ALS. Every single task, big or small, was important to these patients, and I was grateful to be a part of it.
The moral of this story is to never let one bad experience decide the rest of your life. For those of you who are still unsure about venturing into physical therapy, or for those who think they don’t have what it takes, I’m here to tell you that first, it’s never too late, and second, that if you truly want something, then you can get it.
I will never forget the lessons I learned from my time at that SNF, and I cannot wait until it will be my turn to inspire the next generation of physical therapists.
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