When I was 18, I moved from West Michigan to Los Angeles to go to school and play Division 1 water polo at California State University Northridge. How I went from Michigan to California is another story, but all I knew is I wanted to be where the best water polo was. I remember being nervous, scared, and excited all at the same time. Wondering how the hell I was going to balance school, athletics, and having a social life. I always felt like I had some big shoes to fill since all three of my older siblings were collegiate athletes. Without knowing it, that is what started my passion for health and wellness, and what started me in the direction of personal training.
I had a very successful career representing Northridge. Numerous awards and allocates, including All-American honors. It was more than I could have imagined. Especially when I started playing water polo as a freshman in high school and I was an outsider from Michigan. Eventually, it all had to come to an end and having to give up a sport I loved was heartbreaking and humbling. I spent my 5th year at Northridge helping out with the water polo team, and finishing up pre-requisites in order to get into graduate school. It was strange, watching my former teammates in the water. I would always have that urge to jump in and play during games. It really is like having a part of your identity taken away from you. I had considered playing over seas, but I knew the team dynamic wouldn’t be the same and eventually I realized that’s what I missed the most. My teammates, my friends, these women, had become my family away from home. I would do anything for them and to this day I still feel like that bond will never be broken.
My love for athletics has never left me. Once I had graduated from Northridge in 2011, I drove across country to obtain a masters degree in athletic training from Florida International University. That program was one of the toughest challenges in my life. But, I loved it. I loved it because I could relate to these athletes. Everything they went through, I had experienced myself, and it made me appreciate what I gained from my time at Northridge.
After graduate school I had worked for about a year and a half as an athletic trainer at a physical therapy clinic in South Florida. I had not had planned to leave that job as early as I did, but when my Mother was re-diagnosed with Cancer, I knew I needed to come home. Due to the lack of athletic training positions available in Grand Rapids, I accepted a position as a personal trainer at a major gym and that’s when I had my “ah-ha” moment. I thought to myself that this is what I am supposed to be doing with my life, to help others with their health and to ultimately increase their quality of life. I can’t imagine myself doing anything else, and I am constantly applying what I have learned as an athletic trainer to supplement my career as a personal trainer. It has allowed me to help clients in ways that others could not, and what sets me apart from other personal trainers and coaches.
So here I am; a certified athletic trainer and personal trainer pursuing my passion and pushing to make myself better as well as others around me. My professional career may not have been what I originally thought it would be, but it is exactly what it is meant to be.