Physical therapy is important to me because it represents the intersection of resilience, science, and human connection. My commitment to this field began after a life-altering car accident that left me navigating both physical limitations and the uncertainty of recovery. What could have remained a period of loss instead became the foundation for a new understanding of health as the restoration of function and confidence. That experience ultimately shaped my decision to pursue a career dedicated to helping others reclaim their own sense of agency through movement. In the years that followed, I immersed myself in movement education through yoga and mindfulness, teaching individuals how to reconnect with their bodies. While this work was meaningful, it also revealed a gap. Without integration into the healthcare system, access to this kind of niche transformative care remained limited. Physical therapy offers a bridge between holistic movement practices and evidence-based medicine, allowing practitioners to reach broader and more diverse populations. It is uniquely positioned to address not only injury recovery, but also prevention, long-term wellness, and quality of life. As a licensed Physical Therapist Assistant, I have witnessed the profound impact that targeted rehabilitation can have on individuals, particularly in older adults striving to maintain independence after illness or injury. I have seen patients progress from immobility and fear to confidence and autonomy, often through nonpharmacological interventions that empower them to participate actively in their own healing journey. These experiences have reinforced my belief that physical therapy is not only a clinical service, but also a form of education and advocacy that equips patients with lifelong tools for health. My experiences have also clarified the limitations within our current healthcare system. Patients often encounter delayed care, unnecessary imaging, or reliance on medications before accessing physical therapy, despite its effectiveness as a first-line treatment for many movement-related conditions. I am motivated to help shift this paradigm by contributing to a model of care in which physical therapists are recognized as primary providers for neuromuscular concerns. Early intervention has the potential to reduce healthcare costs, minimize chronic disability, and improve overall patient outcomes. Additionally, elevating the profession of physical therapy to its highest standard of care helps to balance current allopathic physician workloads that have contributed to a burnout crisis amongst healthcare providers. As part of the physical therapy profession, I will contribute in three key ways: clinical excellence, patient empowerment, and professional advocacy. Clinically, I aim to specialize in neuromuscular care, incorporating manual therapy and pain neuroscience education to deliver effective, individualized treatment. Equally important, I want to empower patients by simplifying complex medical information and involving them as active participants in their recovery. Beyond the clinic, I am committed to advancing the profession through leadership and advocacy. My involvement in our nationwide professional organization, the American Physical Therapy Association, has already provided insight into the legislative and systemic efforts required to advance the profession and improve access to care. I intend to continue this work by promoting policies that support early, direct access to physical therapy and reduce reliance on opioid-based pain management. Additionally, I hope to contribute to public education initiatives that increase awareness of physical therapy as a proactive and preventive healthcare option. Ultimately, physical therapy is important to me because it restores dignity and participation in life. My contributions will help the profession move into a new era of healthcare access and widespread education on strategies for physical wellbeing throughout the lifespan. As a future Doctor of Physical Therapy, I am committed to advancing the physical therapy profession because it strengthens communities through accessible, empowering, and evidence-based care.

In 2011, my life was forever changed when a drunk driver crossed the center line and hit me in a head-on collision. The following trauma from the concussion, physical therapy from the injuries, and the odds of surviving the accident called me to a deeper inquiry of human resilience. The accident left painful physical limitations and memory issues, which quickly became a catalyst to study yoga-based movement, mindfulness, and neuroscience research. Inspired by a profound physical and emotional recovery through yoga, I left my job as a graphic designer and began on a completely new life path as a yoga instructor the following year. In a new realm of teaching and leadership, I built my public speaking voice, learned business management and personal development skills, and had the privilege of teaching movement and mindfulness to both youth and adults around the world. Over time, I developed an instinct that there was a more universal way of reaching the general public with movement education outside of a niche fitness experience, and my goal to empower others through yoga began to evolve toward finding a systemic approach that accessed a greater population. Just before the pandemic in 2020, I decided to broaden my scope of practice and pursue a career in physical therapy. At the time, it felt logical to pursue an Associate’s degree as a physical therapist assistant (PTA), though this was largely chosen out of fear that my brain could not learn the way it had before the accident. A doctoral degree in physical therapy after an arts degree and a head injury felt completely out of reach. To my surprise, I had an academic experience opposite of my expectations because of the firm structure I created for studying, as an experiment to ease test anxiety. This structure, and a high degree of self-motivation, earned a consistent 4.0 GPA, honors society awards, and a near-perfect NPTE board exam score (799/800) at graduation. After receiving the state-level PTA of the Year award in my first year post-graduation, I began to see a real path to becoming a Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT). My choice to advance in the healthcare industry is founded in the belief that movement education is a key to lifelong health. Physical therapy has the advantage of being a nonpharmacologic option to pain management, helping to supplant the opioid epidemic by empowering people to understand the potential they have to impact their nervous systems. As a current physical therapist assistant and yoga instructor, I enlist patients in the awareness of their own mental fortitude, dispel anxiety by simplifying complex information, and smile with patients and students as they celebrate steps toward strength and independence. To add, there is often the perception of distance between “right brain” creatives and “left brain” intellectuals. One of my main motivations is to demonstrate the practical benefits of creativity and science working together toward the goal of lifelong health and vitality. Living through a traumatic experience has given me a profound respect for human resilience and will certainly shape the way I live my future as a licensed physical therapist. This month, I will enter my doctoral program at Tufts University with the vision to elevate the career capacity of a physical therapist through advocacy for improved patient access and interdisciplinary communication, coupled with the practice of skilled manual techniques that have the most profound impact on the human nervous system. My professional dream is to see physical therapists serve our communities as a top option for neuromusculoskeletal care while also building awareness around healthy movement for the lifespan.

The most important reason for people to be involved in their communities is because of how it makes them feel connected. Our modern world regularly takes away attention from deep, meaningful connections and replaces them with temporary technological fixes. Like a muscle, our psychosocial abilities can grow weak without proper use, so the relationship of being involved in community is now more crucial than ever. Over the past ten years, my work has been in building community through a modest career in the yoga industry, specifically teaching, management, and freelance consulting. In the first two roles, I slowly built a thriving community in Seattle from the ground up over the course of three years, learning many lessons about the beautifully hard work that is required. In the latter role, I utilized this experience to help improve existing communities. Walking into any studio, I could see the potential for people to connect, smile, move and breathe together. From there, I would form a plan of action for business owners to help enhance their specific community, which ultimately created a powerful ripple effect beyond just a yoga mat. The practice itself and the genuine feeling of connection both make yoga studios, at their greatest, hubs of good-hearted people who are catalysts of change. Each hello, introduction, curiosity, and story shared is a stitch in the fabric that we weave together as a society, and I plan to continue on this mission in my next phase of education. I have recently pivoted away from my career as a teacher and leader in the yoga industry, into the ambitious goal of seeking a degree for Physical Therapy. With my extensive yoga background, and the added power of medical education, I know I will have a broader scope to connect my greater community in Bellingham, Washington. This will happen through proper movement education to my yoga students, and through clear, empowered communication to my physical therapy patients; perhaps even overlap of both. With these valuable skill sets, I will be bridging a gap between two equally important worlds that keep individuals happy through movement endorphins and healthy through pain-free movement training. In this near future career, I plan to help my community better understand their own strengths and goals, one person, one movement, and one breath at a time.

It started with the way I physically looked and turned into a proud part of who I am today. I have been a misfit since I was 7 years old; fiercely independent and adventurous, my parents mostly left me alone to understand myself and why I was bullied. Of course this led to many years of confusion, failed friendships, failed relationships, career exploration, and eventually, a LOT of traveling. When I was 22, my favorite place to be was on an airplane, flying in the middle of the night to a foreign country no one else knew about. I did this often. Looking back, the most dangerous and daring behaviors are what made me feel alive with purpose. Years later now, I see the pattern that shaped me: bullying first, making myself small second. But deep down I knew better than to let that label me a misfit to others in adulthood, even when I felt like one. After a head-on collision with a drunk driver in 2011, I changed the direction of my life by becoming a yoga instructor, to help others heal physically. What I didn't realize was the impact that yoga has on the understanding of mental and spiritual ourselves. There began the unraveling of 20 years of learning to "fly solo", which shifted into 9 years of self exploration and personal work in understanding what being a misfit means for my life's purpose. Externally, I began to shine. The first project I started as a yoga instructor was to coach Tween Yoga classes and workshops, to help 9-12 year olds cultivate awareness and compassion around who they truly are. My secret hope was that they too felt like misfits and I was able to empower them with the capacity for unapologetic confidence. Essentially, It felt like offering the type of mentorship I needed at their age, and brought me closer to seeing myself as a little girl who couldn't identify with or connect well with others. I then began to understand that it was ok to feel that way. Following life projects aligned with my external ambition to promote mental wellness which involved moving across the country to open a yoga studio, and working for myself traveling the world to teach and consult with yoga/fitness studios; something only a single mid-30's person with no kids could be privileged to do well and often. Through this time, I learned to be a chameleon, blending my misfit identity with the world on my terms. And I kept teaching youth. Internally, I still know I'm a misfit. My name gets called last (but with the initial of F), I'm generally picked last, last to experience "normal" life things (still not in a relationship, going back to school at 36), and feel like I have to remind other people that I'm still here, thriving in my own little bubble. Covid has magnified the loneliness bubble for many people, but there's a feeling of comfort in it for me. There is also gratitude for previously [to Covid] taking myself out on more dates than I can count, for having more alone time mean more productivity, and for trusting that what comes of my solo time will eventually help others through the world of physical movement and mindfulness that I take part in daily. It's my new new way of feeling alive with purpose.

Ten years ago next month, my life was forever changed when a drunk driver crossed the center line and hit me in a head on collision. The following trauma from the concussion, physical therapy from the injuries, and rare chance of surviving the accident inspired me to quit my bartending job, become a yoga teacher, and begin on a completely new path. Because of the way that my head injury impacted the way I think and interact, I first immersed myself in the study of mindful movement, meditation, and neuroscience research. Through that journey over the course of 9 years, I was granted the immense privilege of teaching yoga and mindfulness around the world to both youth and adults. The experience gave me a glimpse into an industry that was thriving with studentship and lifelong benefits, though lacking in accredited biomechanical knowledge, and still secular in its appeal to many. Last year, my path switched again. This time inspired by a deeper inquiry for the physical and physiological human body, I began my pursuit to become a Physical Therapy Assistant. My goal is to interweave yoga and mindfulness knowledge with science-based physical therapy to create an experience that does not exist within typical yoga studios or physical therapy clinics. I believe there is so much potential for everyone to benefit from both modalities at the same time, and for it to be accessible in language and approach. This grant would help me achieve my goal by supporting part of the cost of tuition for the program at Whatcom Community College where I am a current student.

In the summer of 2018, my partner and I set off on an extremely challenging 100-mile hike around Glacier Peak, deep in a remote area of the North Cascades. The path we chose began on densely forested unmaintained trail, weaved through part of the Pacific Crest Trail, took us over six high mountain passes, and finally into more unmaintained trail that we hoped had some landmarks to follow. The images are us at the beginning, and views from the most remote areas of the hike, 50 miles in, looking at Glacier Peak and down into the Chiwawa River Valley.