麻豆传媒高清

鈥淛ourney to Physical Therapy鈥�

By Hadley Rogge

When I was younger, around age 7, my imagination was limitless. I wanted to be a superhero more than anything, a physically strong person who is capable of saving the day. Around early elementary school, I wanted to have some sort of profession in water. In 4th grade. I read about marine science and wanted to be a marine biologist, which was reinforced by family vacations on the Jersey shore. Then I found volleyball, and that was my sole focus. I wanted to be a professional volleyball player and play at the best and biggest volleyball organization. This is still somewhat true to a degree, depending on how my future unfolds, but I now realize it’s not the only deciding factor in my life. I knew I was interested in physical therapy/exercise science from my mom’s work stories growing up about how much she loved her job. Junior year of high school was also when I had injuries that led me to be in a PT clinic. Being in the environment shaped my mind into thinking, “I can see myself here in the future.” I wanted to help others just like how I was helped, and I would ask my PTs questions to give me lessons on the human body while I was recovering. Physical therapy is also one of the happiest professions, and my parents always told me to make sure I love what I pursue. Being financially stable was also something I had to consider, knowing that I want to have a family and provide for my children. Especially being an athlete, I found myself more skilled and specialized in the body/health realm. Also wanting a job that interacted with people, I knew that no machine or artificial intelligence could replace the hands-on healing of a person helping you face-to-face.

The O-Net Interest Profiler is a tool that anyone around the world can use to choose a profession they are interested in or to reinforce the decision they have already made about their career. In terms of knowledge, I would match the profession of physical therapy because it is directly related to exercise science, which I am studying right now to receive my bachelor’s degree in. With what I am learning in my major courses right now, my skills will also soon match up to perform rehabilitation. Physical therapy is for patients who want to return to work, school, sports, or more difficult places to come back to after injury or pain. With my mom having been a PT, I have had at-home practice on how to treat certain joints and muscles. My personality and interests match the work well because I enjoy learning about anatomy and physiology, as well as studying the human body. I find the human body fascinating, and something that all people can know better to help themselves whenever there is illness or injury present. Knowing your body and how it works/what it responds well to can help people live longer and feel better. Not just as an athlete, but as a person, I find much value in physical fitness or simply just moving the body for both physical and mental health because exercise produces endorphins that improve mood. I have always been better in the health realm aside from school, but with my sport as well, by taking my recovery and nutrition seriously. This knowledge would benefit all people, whether athletic or not. 

Stated in the O-Net Profiler as well, I am social and love working with people as well as helping people. The salary matches my expectation well, as physical therapists obtain above-average annual salaries. A salary between $98,000 and $100,000 is ideal to provide for myself and my future family. The results I found match well with what I originally thought it was. I have been in a physical therapy office before, and they are goal-oriented places. I understood the job requirement and work environment, as I am currently learning about it in my major courses. I mostly received degrees with a scientific background from the profiler, which is my most skilled subject. My people skills and ability to work at a fast pace meet the demands of the profession and allow me to support patients in their recovery process physically and emotionally. This was confirmed in my test results from the profiler. I desire to help other people's quality of life, as I was helped.

An alternative profession to physical therapy is occupational therapy, which is closely related to my career of choice, but focuses more on restoring vocational or homemaking daily skills rather than returning to sports, etc. This is one of the occupations the O-Net Profiler chose for me, and the one I chose to look into in comparison to my chosen career. Physical therapists concentrate on improving physical movement, strength, balance, and overall mobility instead of basic life skills to simply get by. Their duties include testing a patient’s physical abilities, pain levels, and range of motion, then making a treatment plan to improve movement and reduce discomfort. PTs help patients through exercises, stretching, and hands-on therapy techniques to improve walking, posture, and balance. They treat injuries, recovery from surgeries, and long-term conditions. Physical therapists work in hospitals, outpatient clinics, rehab centers, and sports facilities. Having been in a PT clinic due to injuries, I can see myself as an athlete helping others to return to their best, healthy self. Also, having been a patient, one of the ways my therapist improved my physical ability was mobility exercise, which gave me insight into what to do if I ever feel like a muscle is tight or sore again. Being a patient will help me in the future by putting myself in the shoes of the people I am working with, therefore progressing them towards a better recovery due to understanding. This will bring me joy and remembrance of the lessons I learned from being injured, even though it was not very fun. Every PT I have known also loves their job and finds joy in it, which, as mentioned before, should be something people value when choosing a career.

After exploring the O-Net Interest Profiler, I feel on the right path with my career based on the results I received. The results for each job profession I got accurately described how well my personality would do in it. I discovered that I work well with others and have a brighter outlook in jobs involving people, which makes me feel confident in the pursuit of physical therapy. However, my exact career choice was not there in the profile, so that does inspire me to think that there are other options out there, and to keep my mind open to other possibilities that I might be better suited for down the road. Interacting with people is something I want to do, but that is under the assumption that the people I will work with will match my personality. I do think about if I will fit in the environment I am in, since there are so many different types of clinics. This makes me hope to start in a smaller clinic first, and not a hospital for post-surgical treatments, because I think I will be more comfortable in a clinic to start. Before that, the schooling for PT is very competitive and hard to get into, so I also have to take that into consideration because it will be like applying for college all over again, so I can pursue my degree. While in PT school, I know the classes will be harder as I progress throughout my years, and how I will have to balance my sports schedule. However, I am confident that as long as I continue to love what I am studying and remember why I am doing it, I can succeed and learn from any obstacle I encounter on my career path.

Works Cited

National Center for O*NET Development. . O*NET OnLine. Retrieved January 30, 2026