My Journey Through Academia

After graduating from Carmel High School all the way back in 2009, I originally went to Ball State University with the intent of graduating with an elementary education degree. Unfortunately, I found that my interests, at the time, were not in education, but in anatomy. A friend was in school for nursing and I was fascinated by her anatomy textbooks and how the body worked. I decided on massage therapy school in 2010, with the thought that once I graduated, I would then work while going to school for physical therapy.
Once I graduated from the Indiana Therapeutic Massage School, I found that I loved helping my clients with massage therapy so much that I decided to focus on working as a massage therapist instead of continuing to pursue more education. I have worked as a licensed massage therapist for 16 years now, and have loved every minute of it. However, in 2019, I made the decision to go back to school. I began my journey at IUPUI with the intent to pursue a degree in Biomedical Engineering. I still loved how the body worked, and wanted to continue helping people any way I could. However, once Covid-19 hit in 2020, I switched my major to Mathematics, as it was the only all-online degree I could find an interest in. However, once restrictions in the classroom were lifted, I wanted to switch back to something more science and anatomy-based. After coming home ranting about how frustrated I was with other people involved in one of my client's care, my husband suggested I find a degree that would give me the chance to help the clients already under my care, but also with the ability to teach others what I had learned from my unique perspective. I then began pursuing a degree in Exercise Science with the intent to continue with a masters in either Athletic Training, a doctorate in Physical therapy, or degrees in both. Unfortunately, after shadowing a few physical therapists, I learned that the job would require working around insurance (too much red-tape), and had very little to do with actually helping people in their rehabilitation. Again, my husband and I discussed what options were interesting to me. At the time, I was also working full time at ITMS as a Pathology and Physiology instructor. While I would have loved to continue with massage and sports rehabilitation, I ultimately wanted a career that afforded me more time with my family and allowed a more structured schedule, but still kept up with my interests in the sciences and education. I began working at the local high school as an individual aide in the Applied Skills department. I made the choice to come back to school to finish my BGS for science and mathematics, with the hope to begin working as a mathematics teacher, in either Algebra or Precalculus. I have a feeling that I will be a forever student, as I love learning everything I can academically. However, I am ready to start sharing that knowledge with others and helping them on their academic journey to a successful life.