Everything Happens For a Reason
By Krista
I am Empowered & Poised through encouraging others to be the best versions of themselves. Sports have always been a big part of my life for as long as I can remember. Between dancing, kicking soccer balls, and hitting softballs, there was much preparation to be done beforehand both physically and mentally. Over the course of my time playing sports, there were many life lessons to be learned, but one lesson that has had the most impact on me is encouraging others to be at their best.
However, what really sparked my interest in pursuing a career in the health & wellness industry was a serious knee injury that changed my life. In 7th grade, my soccer team and I were warming up before a game and my knee gave out and down I went. It was in that moment I wanted to pretend that nothing had happened and carry on with the rest of warm ups, but my parents had the right mind in taking me to the doctor to get it checked out. It was discovered that I ruptured my ACL and would be out of sports for approximately 9 months, which for me was devastating considering how important playing sports was for me. After the surgery, I was officially on the road to recovery from this gruesome injury. From there came months of physical therapy, accompanied with many tears from frustration, smiles from regaining an old ability back, and every emotion in between. It was from my time in physical therapy that I realized that I would eventually like to have a career in the rehabilitation/sports medicine field, however I wasn’t sure of what exactly I wanted to specialize in yet. I did overcome this obstacle as I made it back into playing competitive sports within an 8 month recovery.
Years have passed, and today I am currently a senior at the University of Mount Union who will be graduating in about a month with my Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science supplemented with three minors in physical education pedagogy, sport business, and athletic coaching leadership. I have decided that my career goals will consist of personal training, sports performance training, and an eventual goal to becoming a Health and Physical Education teacher.
Without this serious injury, I know that I would definitely not be in the position that I am in today, without all the experiences that I have faced over the years leading up until now. Everything happens for a reason.
