This athletic scientist is surely one to watch out for, both on the field and in the lab at Explo at Wellesley. Throughout her life, Alex's passions for soccer, dance, and lacrosse, combined with a driven persistence, has helped her turn painful experiences with injuries into success stories, by leading her towards her ultimate goal: becoming a physical therapist.
Two years ago I had patellar tendinitis, which I think I got because I've been playing soccer for so long. It was really painful and I had to go to physical therapy for hours each week to recover from my injury. Then, last summer, I sprained my ankle really badly to the point where I couldn't play soccer and I was really, really upset. But at physical therapy, my trainers helped encourage me to get better by motivating me to keep trying and never give up. I feel like my trainers have helped me get back on my feet and always push to keep going and recover. I really want to be that motivator for someone else.
Here at Explo, we learn about sports medicine and orthopedics — it's really cool! We do a lot of really hands-on activities that teach you specific techniques that you'll need to learn about the field of sports medicine, and it's so cool that I get to learn them before even going to high school. I'm sure it'll help me once I start looking for internships, also because I'm already spending so much time learning about the field.
Jaryd Frankel