Eight MSU-Meridian graduates feel excited about the opportunities that await them, as they become the college’s first graduating class with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology.
“I feel great. I feel accomplished. I feel blessed in different ways, of course. It’s been a long road for me. Through school, I’m a non-traditional student, as they call it. So, I’m very excited. My family is very excited as well.”
To obtain the degree, students took coursework in kinesiology, the study of human body movement, that emphasized clinical exercise physiology.
“We really teach them about the body and how it works specifically with movement, hence exercise and physiology. We really teach them everything about anatomy, where things are, but also how that moves within each other. So the joints, the bones, the muscles, the tissues, and how they work together in being efficient within that movement.”
Students explained that the program offered many rewards.
“It is a small program. When we started, we only had 10 students. So it was very personable. It did feel like an ivy league school because the professors could be very involved with the students, and of course the students with each other, because it was a huge auditorium.”
The graduates have plans to continue their education by attending schools in either occupational therapy or physical therapy.
“Occupational therapy is like where you’re mainly dealing with ADLS, activities of daily living, where you’re trying to make sure that they can finish activities like brushing your teeth, brushing your hair, bathing, toileting, things like that.”
They share a piece of advice for prospective students interested in the program.
“I would just tell them to stick with it. If you want to further you’re education to go to physical therapy school, or occupational therapy school, or personal trainer, or whatever, continue it. Don’t just stop in the middle. We’ve had some students drop out because it was too hard. Just stick through it.”
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