What Now?

Over the course of the past month I've put a lot of prayer, thought and conversation into what the Lord wants me to do next in this process.  As those of who you regularly follow my blog know, as of now I have not received acceptance into any DPT programs.  My admission status for each of the schools to which I applied can be found in the post directly below this one.  The schools are required to set their final acceptance list by April 15th, so there is still time.

After I was wait listed by the University of Toledo, I had no idea what would occur next in my life.  I was so certain for so long that the Lord wanted me to attend physical therapy school, but as we can all see He is either saying "No" altogether or "No, not yet."

At that point it seemed like I was back to square one.  I wasn't worried but I was a little uneasy at this point.  I really began to question pursuing physical therapy and it wasn't just a little bit, I was really second guessing myself.  It was bad.  There is one thing that has remained constant throughout this long process and that is our Lord.  The power of prayer is absolutely incredible, I began to pray for guidance.

Within about a week, I was pretty certain what the Lord wanted me to do next:  work for a year, and reapply for DPT admission next year.  However, it wasn't until a few weeks later that He exposed me to a different option.  I'd have to say I didn't expect to have the Lord speak to me through one of my roommates but He did.

My roommate is in a similar situation to mine having not been accepted to dental school and has been considering potential options for the next year.  He spoke with an admissions rep at one of the schools to which he applied and the rep suggested earning a masters degree in order to become more competitive for professional school admission in two years.  It was at that point that things "clicked" for me and I felt like this was the path the Lord wanted to send me down and not the former.

So, what does this mean now?  Well there is a masters program that will bridge the gap from undergrad to DPT school quite nicely.  The program, "exercise science",  is also called exercise physiology, health and exercise science, kinesology among other names, and is offered at a variety of schools across the country.  I narrowed my searched to schools within the state of Ohio.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with exercise science, in its simplest terms is the study of the movement of the body during exercise.

Following some initial research I determined that there are six schools in state that offer the masters of exercise science program.  After digging a little deeper, however, I found that this was not the case.  Two offered "education of exercise science" (not the same program), the admission period of another is closed and a fourth is not financially feasible.  So what are we left with?  Two schools.

Ohio University & The University of Toledo.

Wait listed by both for DPT but back on the board for a different field of study, exercise science.

I am currently working on applications for both programs and will hopefully have them submitted within the coming weeks.  Both programs are two years in length and begin in the fall of 2013.

As for this summer I intend to return home to Hilliard for a fourth tour of duty working summer camp at the Y by my house.  Although I had not originally thought I would be at home, it looks like that is where I will be this summer.  A lot could still change in the next two months so we'll see.  I'm certainly not going to complain about being able to play another summer of slow pitch softball and sand volleyball though.

I appreciate your continual support.  I would be so grateful if you could continue to pray for me and God's plan for my life.  Who knows, maybe going for my masters doesn't work out.  I have absolutely no idea what my future holds.  But one thing is for sure, God knows my future and He knows yours too.