'a better life over to my new major' - Physical Therapy entrance essay PTCAS

This is for the PTCAS website application and the prompt reads...Which personal characteristics and motivating factors have led you to pursue the profession of physical therapy?

Over the past few years, I have switched majors and schools multiple times. I've bounced around chasing my dream of playing college baseball. While all of this moving around has been slightly hectic, I was able to achieve my goal. Now that my playing days are at an end, it is time for me to achieve my next goal, become a physical therapist.

Switching majors multiple times has enabled me to explore various careers and how they would fit my personal characteristics. I've learned a lot about myself by envisioning myself in the career that I was pursuing. One of the main characteristics that drove me away from a career in engineering is that I am extremely social. I could not see myself sitting behind a desk in an engineering firm with little social interaction. This is one of the reasons that I believe I will make an excellent physical therapist. I am very sociable and personable. In my time spent observing physical therapist, I have noticed that a large part of being successful is gaining the trust of the patient. If you can't talk with the patient they will not trust the therapy that you are putting them through.

One of the main reasons I started off as an engineering major, was so that I could help improve the community that I was living in. I have carried that want to help people live a better life over to my new major. My mother has gone to physical therapy a lot over the last few years; seeing the way it has improved her life and overall mobility is a motivating factor for me to become a physical therapist. While doing observation hours, I have noticed the excitement on patients faces when they realize that they are taking steps towards recovery. One particular instance was this past summer while shadowing at a nursing home. The lady we were working with had the modest goal of walking from her room to the cafeteria. The first two weeks were a struggle with multiple set backs, but by week three she began to realize that she would be able to walk again. One day she walked unassisted for a short distance, and began to cry because she was so excited. Days like that make me want to be a physical therapist.

My journey to an undergraduate degree in Biology has been a bit unusual to say the least. If I had to go back and do it all again, I don't think I would do it any differently. I achieved what I wanted to achieve and met a lot of different people along the way. My successes and my failures have all prepared me for a successful career in physical therapy.