Story of How I Will Be the Future of Sports Medicine by Juleah

Story of How I Will Be the Future of Sports Medicine by Juleah - February 2024 Scholarship Essay

What’s more important than knowing how your own body works? Your body is the only thing that will be with you your entire life. The way our human bodies are able to adapt to injury and sickness, the way medicine works, has always intrigued me. I have many plans for myself upon entering into my freshman year of college. During my undergraduate years I will major in kinesiology and I also plan to minor in business. I will join an accelerated program where I will graduate in 5 years with my master's in athletic training from whichever outstanding university I attend. Upon graduation, I will work as an athletic trainer either at the collegiate level or for an NFL team for a few years. Then, I will go back to school to receive my doctorate in physical therapy and open up my own physical therapy/sports performance center. I want to help people, think of all the lives I will be able to touch this way by healing people from their pain. I am so passionate about helping people in this way, and I long to be a part of the future of sports medicine.
The backstory on where my passion for kinesiology came from is that I’ve been accident prone my entire life. I’ve pulled hamstrings, groins, broken my foot, my wrist, dislocated my knee, strained my MCL multiple times, and torn both my ACLs. Through physical therapy, I became very interested in the way the human body works and how everything is so connected to one another. I also engaged in extensive training and used lifting weights as motivation to recover from injuries faster so that I could return to my beloved sport: dance. All of these injuries took a toll on me mentally, and I know better than anyone how difficult it is to sit on the sidelines. This is why my dream is to help athletes navigate the process of injury recovery and encourage injury prevention. In the end for me, I did not get a happy ending with a phenomenal comeback story. I wanted to dance in college since I was a little girl, but since suffering two ACL tears through high school, I’ve had to kiss that dream goodbye. That’s why I don’t want anyone else to have to go through what I did. My injuries have also been a blessing in disguise as they have helped me realize my life's calling. I haven’t wasted any time since coming to this realization. I’ve taken it upon myself to shadow my physical therapist to learn more about the profession, which confirmed that I want to pursue this field of study. My entire senior year, I assisted the athletic trainer at my school where I’ve learned more about anatomy, some evaluation techniques, and how to do simple tape jobs. This experience has been incredibly valuable to me, and I want to multiply that experience in college.
I imagine a world with new innovative rehabilitation for athletes to decrease pain and to eliminate career-ending injuries. I want to be part of creating new techniques that help athletes thrive because no one should have to say goodbye to a sport they love. I want to be the future of sports medicine and I have the determination to get myself there. This scholarship is the perfect way for me to launch this dream, and you will not be disappointed.