In 1973, my newly single grandmother packed up her two children into their station wagon and moved to New Iberia, Louisiana, in hopes of opening up a nursing home.   My grandmother became the administrator of Azalea Villa Nursing Center (presently Belle Teche Nursing and Rehabilitation Center) in January of 1974.  Years later, my mother would become an employee of the home, and my great-grandparents would live there until their final days.  Even though I would not be in existence until fourteen years later, I feel that this was the root of my love for physical therapy.

For as long as I can recall, most of my childhood days were spent wheeling the residents to and from their rooms, calling out bingo numbers, painting ladies’ fingernails, and pretending like I knew how to play bridge.  Even as a child, it was evident that spending five minutes with a resident could change their gloomy day into pure happiness.  Something as simple as keeping an elder company was all it took to brighten their day.  I was lucky enough to have over a hundred adopted grandparents, each having his or her own history and stories to share with me.  I learned at a very young age that the smartest people in the world are our elders, for they have lived through everything and have seen it all.  Each resident that I came in contact with tugged on a certain string of my heart, and left an everlasting imprint on my mind.

In my adolescent years, my mother began teaching me the basic duties of running the nursing home’s business office. (Little did I know, she was actually looking for someone to take care of the tedious filing and paperwork).  I learned how to thin out patient charts, keep track of patient funding, and place food orders based on patient diets.  Nonetheless, being exposed to the business aspects of the facility strengthened my communication, organizational, and technical skills.  I would not be introduced to the nursing home’s physical therapy department until several years later.

In addition to being exposed to how the nursing home operates, several other experiences have influenced my decision to pursue a career in physical therapy.  Being in the Health Care Academy in high school, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to job shadow any medical profession that I desired.  I always knew that I wanted to do something in the medical field, but I was not quite sure which direction to take.  All I knew was that I enjoyed being around people, and I received great pleasure from helping others.  I decided to job shadow a veterinarian, a surgeon, and a physical therapist.  I figured that this was a wide enough spectrum, and I would surely be able to zone in on which direction to take.  After watching the neutering of a Chihuahua and almost passing out cold on the floor, I was not sure how I would survive a surgery at the hospital.  Surprisingly, the removal of a malignant tumor on the throat of a seventy-eight year old kept me interested and, thankfully, standing on my feet.  After the surgery, I ventured over to the hospital’s physical therapy department. I was immediately interested in what I saw.  The patients varied from infants to elders, everyone was doing exercises specific to their needs, and I felt comfortable in the atmosphere.  I believe it was that point in time in which I had found my calling.  I knew that I wanted to pursue a career in physical therapy.

The devastating hurricanes of 2006 offered me a great opportunity and another unforgettable experience, despite such tragedy and hardships.  My grandmother, mother, sister, and I loaded up over 100 nursing home residents into buses and ambulances with necessary medications and clothing.  Our goal was to keep the residents calm and reassure them that everything would be fine in a time of such uncertainty.  We evacuated to a sister home in northern Louisiana and did everything in our power to keep Belle Teche’s residents comfortable for the next couple of days.  Evacuating with the nursing home allowed me to realize the importance of putting other people’s needs before your own.  It was an experience that I will never forget, and I was offered the opportunity to join Belle Teche Nursing Home’s staff the following summer. 

It was the during the summer of 2007 that I was first introduced to the nursing home’s therapy department.  I was exposed to occupational, speech, and physical therapy, and worked with six different therapists.  All of the therapists are contracted out through a larger company, and several of the therapists are involved with home health.  Working in the nursing home’s therapy department gave me an extensive look into geriatric therapy.  I learned the importance of mobility, gait training, and balance, and how all of these factors affect the health of the residents. 

In June 2008, I volunteered as a camp counselor for Special Olympics’ Camp Shriver in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Having cousins with autism and Down’s Syndrome, I already had some experience working with mentally challenged individuals.  I was in charge of a group of special needs athletes ranging from ages ten to thirty.  The camp lasted for five days, and we taught the athletes the skills of volleyball, soccer, softball, tennis, and horseshoes. I met some of the most unique and genuine people at Camp Shriver, and the athletes reassured me that anything is possible.  Even though I have spent the majority of my life working with older adults, I found just as much joy working with children.

While studying for my bachelor’s degree in kinesiology at Louisiana State University, I was able to emerge myself into the field of physical therapy while simultaneously staying active in various campus organizations, volunteering in the community, and keeping a part-time job.  I am the type of person that enjoys staying busy and works well under pressure, and I found happiness in holding various leadership positions.  I was elected to serve as treasurer of my sorority in the spring of 2008.  This job basically entailed keeping track of 230 young women’s finances, paying our sorority bills, and making sure that we stayed on track with our budget.  Whenever my term as treasurer was up, the chapter nominated me to interview and select the upcoming officers.  I was very honored that my sorority trusted me to uphold the ideals of our sorority.  In the spring of 2009, I was elected as vice president of LSU’s Association of Pre-Physical Therapy Students.  I was very excited because LSU is the only university in the state of Louisiana to have such a club devoted strictly to pre-physical therapy students.  We strive to provide a means of networking between students and local therapists, and to prepare students for physical therapy school. These positions allowed me to meet many people, to further develop my communication skills, and to prioritize and find a balance between school, work, and extracurricular activities. 

I spent the majority of this past summer volunteering at a privately owned clinic in my hometown, and working at the nursing home.  I was introduced to tools, techniques, and machines that I will come into contact with in physical therapy school.  The therapists at Thomas J. Landry & Associates allowed me to be very hands-on and develop close relationships with their patients. This experience enabled my passion for physical therapy to blossom even more. I hope to gain even more experience with an LSU internship at Our Lady of the Lake Hospital’s pediatrics department in September of this year.

The reason for my newfound interest in pediatric therapy is due to the little girl that I babysit.  My former high school biology teacher called me in 2005 and offered me a job that I could not refuse—she needed a babysitter to travel with the family for a beach vacation.  I began babysitting Jeanne-Avery when she was only a year old. After accompanying the family to Gulf Shores for five consecutive summers, I now feel part of the family.  Jeanne-Avery and her siblings are like my own.  Just recently, Jeanne-Avery kept complaining about a pain in her leg.  We did not think much of it, until she began crying herself to sleep at night.  She was brought to the doctor, and they discovered an egg-sized growth on her femur.  She was rushed to a children’s hospital in New Orleans and was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in August 2009.  I felt my heart break whenever I knew that the little girl, who I considered to be my sister, would have to fight for her life.  I went to visit Jeanne-Avery whenever she returned home from the hospital, and she said that she could not wait for me to teach her how to walk again.  I cannot wait to be able to help her in her recovery process!  

Since I was introduced to the field of physical therapy, there has never been a dull moment.  I have learned that monotony is never a problem in this profession, and it is so refreshing that two patients are never exactly the same.  Every patient has his or her own story and offers a new and unique goal to accomplish.  My past experiences with many different people, leadership roles, and communication skills will benefit me while working one-on-one with patients, which is so very important in building relationships.  Physical therapy is constantly evolving, and keeping up with current research is a must.  After completing my observation hours, I know that I will wake up every morning and be excited about my job.  I want to enter the fulfilling world of physical therapy to help make a difference in peoples’ lives—no matter if it is as big as successfully helping a patient to be able to walk again, or as small as putting a smile on someone’s face.  It was always inside of me, it just took being present in a nursing home as a young child and a job shadowing experience in high school to bring my love of physical therapy to light.  Should I have the chance to pursue a career in physical therapy, I look forward to developing further as an individual, as a productive member of the community, and as a working professional, who can make a difference in the lives of others.