Many a KIN student these days, dreams of going on to become a physiotherapist after graduating. The KIN alumni program sat down with 3 Kin alumni who are currently in the UBC PT program, Jasmine Mander (B.Kin 2018), Alyssa Binns (B.Kin 2016), and Bea Francisco (B.Kin 2016, M.Sc 2018). For these three outstanding physiotherapy students, sports and exercise has always been an integral part of their lives growing up in the Lower Mainland. Alyssa grew up in Port Moody in a family of basketball players, where her sisters played varsity basketball and her father is a coach. Playing on BC’s provincial team ultimately led to joining the UBC Thunderbird Basketball program in 2010. Whereas Bea was a member of the UBC Women’s Field Hockey team that won three consecutive national championships in a row from 2011-2013, Jasmine played locally for the Vancouver Whitecaps FC, prior to suiting up for the T-birds on the soccer pitch, winning two Canada West Championships, and the 2015 U Sport National Championship. The latter is also the 2019 Bobby Steen Award recipient.
They all recall playing on their respective UBC varsity teams as some of the most memorable and proudest moments throughout their undergraduate degree. When asked about how they balanced the pressure to win games and academic commitments as a student, Jasmine says, “Have fun with it…because playing for UBC is a privilege…so you have to celebrate both the small and big wins”. As for Bea, she says she initially struggled with time management, but eventually found ways to take time off by purposefully scheduling time to just relax.
Having met and became close friends through UBC’s physiotherapy program, the trio credits their mentors and peers with guiding them on the path to becoming a physiotherapist. Although Alyssa stated that she enjoyed working for Adidas in Germany for a period of time after graduation, she credits her work experience class with Janna Taylor and the Athletics Training class with Dave Adolph with providing her with the hands-on opportunity to learn what it was like to work in the rehab field. These, she says “were important experiences that shaped my decision to pursue physiotherapy.” Similarly, while in her undergrad, Bea was a personal trainer at Body Works and participated in the KIN mentorship for 2 years and recommends, “Take a close look at the list of mentors…just because you’re paired with a specific mentor, it doesn’t mean you can’t reach out to other mentors…don’t be afraid to meet people and to ask questions.”
Jasmine and Alyssa both recall a time in first year when the professor asked all those who wanted to become a physiotherapist to raise their hand, and every person’s hand went up. Rather than focusing solely on becoming a physiotherapist, each broadened their experience in different fields and areas of expertise; whereas Jasmine became very involved in both coaching high performance soccer with the Vancouver Whitecaps FC and BC Soccer, Alyssa pursued a minor in business and also volunteered with the Vancouver Stealth (now called Warriors) lacrosse team before entering physical therapy.
Though the physiotherapy program can be very gruelling, the three find it very rewarding and worthwhile to be able to combine the academic knowledge they learned while in the Kinesiology program with the training they now receive knowing that all of it will improve their patients’ wellbeing and quality of life. “KIN courses promote health. We’ve also learned a lot about the many barriers to achieving good health and I think that as a health care professional it will be important to consider this when trying to best support a patient. I feel lucky to have been able to be in UBC’s Kin program.” Jasmine is especially inspired by her peers in the program who carry the winning mindset that many varsity athletes carry with them. They all credit their cohort of peers and professors for making “the day-to-day aspect of the classroom an amazing experience”.