I’m finally finishing up my third rotation at the wound care clinic for U of M. It’s amazing to reflect back on my past and everything I went through up until this point. Starting before high school at one point my mother and I stayed at a homeless shelter at the local YWCA center where it was intimidating to think in an instant a person can lose everything yet this pivotal moment in my life has made me stronger and has built me up to endure the future battles that I’ve experienced. Of course it might take a whole novel to one day tell my complete story, but at that time my mother and I would be upset at times at the shelter but the one thing that has always connected us has been movement. During our hours when we weren’t on curfew at the shelter we would go to the local track and run and afterwards do our 20 minutes yoga video that we play on the laptop we had rented from rent a center and a small old tv that we’ve had for years. We came to the shelter with a few clothes and they were amazing in providing us with a place to stay, food, kitchen stuff that we would need when we moved out, and just the overall support from all the ladies in there who were escaping various and even potentially dangerous situations. I feel like movement has connected me in many ways from being able to take walks with people or even working out with them. During my undergrad in college I went to Bethel to initially get into physical therapy and it’s serendipitous that after 10 years and getting my bachelors and MPH that I have circled around to physical therapy once again. I have finally completed all my classes for PT school and I’m now on the final road to a career I’m invested in.

During this clinical I’ve had periods where my ability to deal with difficult situations has been tested, and one of the hardest lessons I’m learning is to let go. To let go of the past and come to the future moment where I can serve others to the best of my ability, but also knowing my boundaries and establishing those boundaries. I know life has a way of showing us hard lessons that we have to overcome, but if you’re going through a rough patch I urge you to keep trudging through that there will be light at the end of the tunnel and there will be ways in which others and even your own inner self will lift you up to your full potential. I promise things will work out they always do no matter how bad it is at that moment. These moments will shape the person you will become and will teach you lessons that no else can thus helping you achieve resiliency, which can’t be taught in the classroom.