MY INVOLVEMENT AND IMPACT
INShape IUPUI
INShape IUPUI is an internal internship within my undergraduate curriculum. Members of the IUPUI community have the opportunity to create a healthier life for themselves by participating in personal training for semester long sessions. Senior level students of IUPUI's School of Health and Human Sciences receive hands-on experience by being assigned a client to work with for the semester. At my first session with my client, I had them complete fitness assessments and then from there was able to create individualized exercise prescriptions each week. I met my client twice a week throughout the semester at the National Institute for Fitness and Sports for our sessions. I learned so much about creating exercise prescriptions and the importance of continually grabbing people's attention to avoid boredom with the same exercises. Before INShape, I did not realize the community of personal trainers and how encouraging they are for everyone to meet their own goals and the goals of their clients. Being on the side of personal trainer compared to exerciser at NIFS allowed me to see just how important it is for my peers and I to communicate and educate the public about physical activity and exercise.
Memorable INShape Moments
One instance that stood out to me as I was working with my client was our midterm reassessments. My client and I had sat down and created SMART goals before training started to work toward completing throughout this experience. We collected data from our initial assessments and then decided to reassess halfway through the semester. Upon receiving the results of my client's reassessments, she was very disappointed by the lack of progress toward reaching her goals. This was an opportunity for me to adapt to my client's needs even more and adjust my plan. I implemented more motivational aspects of the weekly plan and changed some of the content of our weekly resistance training programs. My client's final reassessments showed positive improvement in her physical health. The moment I talked through the results of the final assessments, my client's face light up and she was so excited. It taught me the importance of communication, learning people's personalities and motivational needs, and adaptation.
Another moment that stood out to me related to one of my client's goals. One of her goals was to gain basic knowledge of resistance training exercises. At the start of the semester, my client did not have much background in resistance training and could neither demonstrate nor describe certain exercises. Throughout the semester, I taught her exercise technique, what muscles were being used, and why each exercise was important. By the end of INShape, I watched my client teach one of my peers how to perform five different resistance training exercises. I was so excited for the amazing progress that had happened in just a matter of weeks. It was encouraging for me to see the fruits of my effort.
INShape Reflection
Adaptive ​
Challenging. ​
Encouraging. ​
Growth.
Enjoyable.
Worthwhile.
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Above are six simple words that come to mind when I think of my IUPUI INShape experience.
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In order to be a successful personal trainer, I feel like it is necessary to be able to make modifications to meet people's personalities, motivational levels, and physical abilities. Throughout the weeks of training, I altered my exercise prescriptions to help my client meet her goals in the best way possible.
INShape IUPUI was my first experience as a student personal trainer. I was anxious about my abilities and knowledge before I started. I felt a strong responsibility to help my client meet their specific goals. Through the experience of interacting and building a relationship with my client I was able to grow in my confidence levels and my abilities as a personal trainer.
I was very proud of my client once positive results started to happen. It was inspiring for me to watch them work hard and start prioritizing their physical health. I was excited to watch the growth physically and mentally for both of us. I was able to lead, educate, and teach someone about how important their physical health is in every aspect of their life. For me, that was the most rewarding part of this process. I would do it all over again just for the satisfaction of knowing someone else in the IUPUI community can walk into a gym and feel confident about challenging themselves physically.
ADDITIONAL UNDERGRADUATE EXPERIENCE
Education
Throughout my curriculum as an undergraduate student at IUPUI, I have been able to participate in numerous classes that focus on interactive learning. In the School of Health and Human Sciences, my teachers have allowed for intense growth in skills like interpersonal communication, adaptation, public speaking, and much more.
IUPUI Freshman Themed Learning Community
During my freshman year at IUPUI, I had the opportunity of being a part of a themed learning community. Within my freshman dorm, there was a group of us all from the School of Health and Human Sciences, previously known as the School of Physical Education and Tourism Management, who all lived together on the same floor. I participated in IUPUI's Summer Bridge program alongside many people who were in my themed learning community. I enjoyed living with like-minded people with some of the same interests as me and volunteering alongside them. As a group we volunteered in the Indianapolis area doing various projects. We volunteered at the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon Warehouse preparing t-shirts and medals for race day. Then we had the opportunity to volunteer at the actual race. I was stationed at the finish line and was given the task to hand out medals to runners crossing the finish line. It was an incredible event to be at and a great way to promote physical activity.
In the picture above, my Summer Bridge group and I all had the opportunity to go to the Indianapolis City Market which was so fun. We got to buy from local vendors and interact with the people of the Indianapolis area.
P373 Principles of Resistance Training and Conditioning
Year Long Resistance Training Program
In one of my undergraduate classes, Principles of Resistance Training and Sports Conditioning, we were assigned a major project that I completed with a partner. The professor allowed groups to chose a demographic. My partner and I chose 8th grade swimmers as our demographic. Our project had to be a year long detailed program for our specific population. The program had to include psychomotor, cognitive, and affective objects. We split up the training program into four phases, preparatory phase, first transition phase, competition phase, and second transition phase. We aligned each phase with the calendar of the sport. For instance, the preparatory phase aligned with the offseason period of swimming. Our program consisted of cardiorespiratory exercises, resistance training exercises, and pre and post season testing. The number of reps, sets, and intensity were all included as well as progression throughout the program.
IUPUI's Motor Activity Clinic
IUPUI's Motor Activity Clinic, also known as MAC, was established in 1997 and is available for Indianapolis-area children ages 3-14 with mental and physical disabilities. Students in the School of Health and Human sciences have the opportunity to work with one child for a semester and create individualized physical fitness programs based on the child's abilities. Each student focuses on helping improve the child's muscular strength, muscular endurance, cardiorespiratory endurance, and range of motion through activities in both a pool and gym environment. The program also allows for social interaction and social growth for children with disabilities in the Indianapolis area. During my semester of the MAC, I had a privilege of working alongside a young boy who had quadriplegic cerebral palsy. One of our overall goals during our time together was being able to practice walking using an adapted walker. I was so impacted by his strength and perseverance despite so many obstacles placed in his life.
Exploring My Field of Study
Starting in the summer of 2016, I began job shadowing at different clinics and hospitals. I was able to job shadow occupational therapists, physical therapists, hand therapists, orthopedic therapists, speech therapists, and music therapists. I felt like it was extremely important to gain experience early on in my field of study in order to truly know what I wanted. I was able to interact with patients ranging from young to old. Throughout all of my experiences I was able to determine what I liked and what I disliked. I was able to network with professionals and gain wisdom and advice from them. Overall, I believe early experience in my field of study truly helped me gain even more of an excitement and passion for continuing my education and achieving my goals. I had the opportunity to observe at Easter Seals Rehabilitation, Mclean County Orthopedics, St. Joseph Rehabilitation Institute, St. Joseph PACE, Carle Richland Memorial Hospital, and K1ds Count, LLC.
VOLUNTEERING
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MISSIONS TRIPS- COSTA RICA & CINCINNATI, OHIO
I believe volunteering is an amazing way to not only help those around you but also learn things about yourself. During high school, I was able to volunteer in my community as well as in another country. I was a volunteer for five years in a row on a missions trip to Cincinnati, Ohio. We completed community service projects all around the Cincinnati area. These projects included but are not limited to community block parties, building repair, painting, and handing out free groceries in low socioeconomic neighborhoods. I also took two different missions trips with my youth group where we served the community of Alajuela, Costa Rica and surrounding areas. We partnered with a local church and performed numerous projects around the church and neighborhood. We built relationships with community members through playing soccer at the local park, house-to-house prayer, and more. During my second trip to the area, some children recognized me from the previous year. It was amazing to have personal relationships that I was able to rekindle during my second trip. Through my missions trips, I gained many beneficial life-skills like team work, critical thinking, and being able to adapt. I had the opportunity to grow in my interpersonal communication and was even able to do some translation for my team which helped the inevitable language barrier.
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CAMPUS INVOLVEMENT
I strongly believe that volunteering in the Indianapolis community has helped me feel a part of the change going on in the Indianapolis area. My freshman year of college I served on the IUPUI 2017 Homecoming Court. The application process was something that took a lot of my time. I filled out an in-depth application and then was invited for the first round of interviews. I was interviewed by the director of the Homecoming Court. I then made it to the next round of interviews which was conducted by IUPUI's Dean of Students. After student voting and review of the interviews, I was offered a semifinalist position. Playing a part in representing the freshman class throughout all the homecoming events was something that I will never forget. I attended events everyday of the Homecoming week and met so many different people. It was an honor serving alongside my peers and representing IUPUI.
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Women4Change
My sophomore year, I had the opportunity to volunteer alongside the IUPUI Women4Change Organization. We spent a day at The Fletcher Place Community Center where we sorted clothes and other donations. The Fletcher Place Community Center focuses on extending hope, compassion, and renewal in the Indianapolis area. Fletcher Place is on the south side of Indianapolis and is a community of low income families, inaccessibility to food, and cheap housing. Crime is highly prevalent in this community. The Fletcher Place Community Center acts as a refuge for those searching for a safe place. The center has a preschool, offers hot meals, and gives access to a food pantry and a thrift store.
Serving in this part of the Indianapolis community allowed me to learn about what was happening in the Indianapolis area and gave me the opportunity to participate in bettering the Fletcher Place community.
CAREER-RELATED WORK EXPERIENCE
LIFE-HEALTH SCIENCES INTERNSHIP PROGRAM
Dr. Lahm Lab
Dr. Lahm's Lab is currently studying Pulmonary Hypertension and Right Ventricular Dysfunction of the Heart. One of the main characteristics of Pulmonary Hypertension is thickening of the walls of the arteries in the lungs. During my internship, I used a Nikon Eclipse Ti2 Inverted Microscope to take pictures of arteries in rat lung tissue. Once I had taken fifteen to twenty pictures per microscope slide, I analyzed the pictures I had taken by using the NIS-Elements Advanced Research Program. This opportunity allowed me to gain experience working in a scientific lab. I was able to further my public speaking skills by presenting my data in weekly lab staff meetings.
RESPONSIBILITIES
I was put in charge of analyzing pictures of arteries by using two computer research analysis programs, NIS-Elements Advanced Research Program and ImageJ. I measured the total area and the lumen of each artery. After finding those numbers I was able to calculate the wall area which is the lumen area subtracted from the total area. Pulmonary hypertensive arteries have a significantly larger artery wall area compared to normal arteries. I calculated the wall fraction percentage by dividing the wall area by the total area. All of my data was used for a research article called 'Pulmonary Vascular Mechanical Consequences of Ischemic Heart Failure and Implications for Right Ventricular Function'. I was able to contribute as an author to this research article which was my first publication.
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I also assisted in other duties like assisting a animal surgeon during tissue and organ harvest surgeries on the rat. After all of the tissue was processed depending on the specific need, I would then utilize these specimens for data collection.
