Something New

Well, I start a new adventure in a week. Starting on Monday, I will be back in school to pursue a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree.

It's going to be a long, hard road. I have one year of undergrad prerequisites to get under my belt before I can actually get in to a DPT program. Then I will have about 3.5 years before I graduate. But, when I do, I will be better equipped to support myself, meaning that the time I spend dancing can be more productive. I don't have to be exhausted and drained by the time I make it to rehearsal. I don't have to worry about getting fired because I need to take a Saturday off for performance. And, I will have gained even more knowledge about how my body functions and how to use it most efficiently and to greatest gain. I will be in a better place to act as a teacher, as well.

In the long run, though, I hope for my greatest achievement to be bringing a new perspective to PT for dancers. I have been to many PTs in my time and they have all been very helpful and knowledgeable. But I can't help but feel alienated when I have to demonstrate how exactly it was that I hurt myself because they don't know what "penchee" means. Or when the exercises that they give me don't work at first because they didn't realize exactly how flexible I am. I want to be a PT who specializes in a field of sports medicine that is incredibly important but doesn't have many specialists, and certainly doesn't have many specialists who went all the way through pre-professional training and have had performance careers themselves.

I have no intention of putting dance on the back burner, but I am really excited to be pursuing a fresh approach.