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PDP-450 Reflective Essay

I committed to Bridgewater College without truly understanding the meaning of the

liberal arts education that it is known for. In the following years, I have been blessed with the

opportunity to learn why Bridgewater is spoken so highly of by its alumni and to experience the

benefit of “educating the whole person.” This philosophy, found in the College’s mission

statement, speaks towards the drive to develop Bridgewater students into those who can

participate in informed discussions about issues outside their field of study. The general

education requirements seek to expose the students to see different perspectives on issues, and

challenge them to think deeply about their own values and beliefs and why they have chosen to

follow them. While fulfilling some of these requirements may have been taxing at times, I

appreciate the knowledge I have gained to be able to have discussions with people of all different

types of backgrounds.

Integration, Experiential Learning, and Personal Educational Program

For several years I have known that I wanted to become a physical therapist. I was not

sure the route that I wanted to take to achieve this, but I knew that this career would be a good fit

for my interests. In addition, to my interest in physical therapy, I was also interested in coaching.

I have had the opportunity to coach swim teams alongside a few highly respected coaches in my

area. One of the aspects of Bridgewater that enticed me was the opportunity to have a minor in

coaching. I was able to take the intro to coaching course during my second interterm here and

greatly appreciated the opportunity to reflect deeper on the various philosophies there are and

develop my own combination of ideals in the process. Unfortunately, I was unable to complete
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the minor because I came in with the intent to graduate in three years, but I hope to continue to

be able to use some of the information I have learned to help motivate my patients one day.

I have been able to use information from many of my major classes during my senior

seminar practicum experience. I appreciated my time at Advantage Physical Therapy where I

was exposed to even more patients and the career application of information I have learned in

courses such as human anatomy, human physiology, kinesiology and exercise science. In my

practicum reflection I mention that the physical therapist I was typically with would often quiz

me on muscles, ligaments or joints impacted by an exercise, or what type of exercises could be

prescribed to treat specific weaknesses (“Senior Seminar Practicum Reflection”). I was able to

compare my experiences shadowing in a variety of different physical therapy settings. One of the

greatest differences I saw were due to variations in socioeconomic status. The other outpatient

clinic I shadowed in last summer was in a wealthy community that was composed of mostly

Caucasian middle-aged people, while Advantage has a more diverse population in its immediate

community due to the large immigrant population in this area. There were many people of all

ages who experienced setbacks in their recovery due to over use at work. These people had to

return to work sometimes sooner than they probably should have because they depended on that

income to support their families. In some cases, this even prevented them from making a full

recovery or at the very least made it much more difficult for them. The patients at the other clinic

often did not have to return to work as soon so they were able to focus on the at home exercises

and resting their injury more than the patients at Advantage. From my time at Advantage I have a

more diverse network of people in my field that I can contact for references, or even if I have a

question about jobs in the area. It is even possible that the relationships I formed while at the site

will be more valuable to me than some of the skills I learned.

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When choosing my courses to fulfill the general education requirements at Bridgewater, I

attempted to pick courses that I had an interest in and I believed would be useful even outside of

my career field. After taking Dr. Kalb’s World History class my freshman year, I realized that I

was interested in learning about history from perspectives outside of the United States. Many of

my history classes prior to college seemed to repeat themselves, learning about the same time

periods and events with just slightly more detail than I had learned before. I chose to take

European History 1789-Present to fulfill my World Cultures requirement because it would

provide me with the different perspectives I wished to take a closer look at. I also have always

been interested in government both that of the United States and other countries around the

world. When selecting to take Intro to Global Politics with Dr. Stojek, I thought the class would

be about the structure of various governments that are most prominent in the world. While this

was not the focus of the class, I learned so much more than I ever thought I would. This class

challenged how I thought about the relationships between countries and why countries are

motivated to act with certain actions such as tariffs or war. It was also eye opening to think

deeper about the implications of current events such at those in the middle east. While this may

have been one of the most challenging classes I took at Bridgewater, I believe it has been one of

the most beneficial in “developing my whole person.” I now feel somewhat confident that I

would be able to hold an intellectual, evidence-based conversation about these topics, and I have

a greater understanding of why world events may have happened rather than just taking what

various news stations report.

Within the last year, I have become very interested in the business aspect of healthcare

and hope to one day own a physical therapy clinic. I wish I had decided this earlier and been able

to take a few business classes, if not double major in business administration, but as an inherent
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learner, I have no doubt that I will continue to learn more about the administrative aspect of the

field through whatever opportunities I can. In the meantime, this means reading financial books

and learning how to properly manage my own finances as best as possible.

In Personal and Community Health with Dr. Lassiter, we were required to visit Our

Community Place in Harrisonburg several times throughout the semester. Our Community Place

is more than just a homeless shelter in Harrisonburg. It aims to help those who may be homeless,

or in a difficult financial situation by providing means for them to better their situation. While

they do not allow people to stay there overnight, they provide a few meals each week and are

open during the day as a place to hang out. Our main goal while we were there was to encourage

physical activity using games such as soccer, volleyball, or simply tossing a football around. A

secondary goal was to have conversations with the people there to be exposed to circumstances

that many of us had never faced. It brought a stark reality to many of us about the day-to-day

hardships that these people have faced. It is one thing to have an idea of homelessness, but it is

another to hear from a person sitting across the table from you about their own personal troubles.

Prior to visiting Our Community Place, I was slightly apprehensive about what I would

experience while I was there. I had volunteered at soup kitchens and homeless shelters several

times in high school with a community service club I was a member of, but it is a very different

task trying to motivate people to participate in your activity. In my reflection about what I

learned in the class, I talk about how my perception changed over the course of the semester. The

course itself was useful for my time at Our Community Place because it educated me on various

determinants of health and what changes are being proposed by organizations such as Healthy

People (“Our Community Place Reflection”). One of the most valuable lessons I learned in this

class is how to understand people who are very different than me, and how to treat them with the
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respect they deserve. Practicing these skills will be very beneficial when I am trying to establish

a relationship with my patients.

Engagement with Diverse Perspectives

In Bridgewater’s goal of “developing the whole person,” an important part of this is

being able to understand perspectives different than my own. I have had many opportunities to

reflect not only on my own opinions and values, but those of people around me who may have

views very different than my own. As I mentioned previously, it is imperative that a person can

see a situation from different perspectives, but also can be respectful when engaging in

discussions with people of various perspectives.

I had the opportunity to evaluate different people’s perspectives on the healthcare

situation in our country as an assignment for Personal and Community Health. We were

supposed to interview several different people who had in some way experienced the current

healthcare system. These included patients, providers, and health advocators. I found some very

diverse perspectives, but there was one common opinion between them all: the current system

could be improved (“Healthcare Perspectives Paper”). On a subject such as healthcare, which is

such a divisive issue in our country, it is important to be educated about the whole process and

the strengths and weaknesses of the variations we have even before you establish your own

platform on the issue. Once you have established your own position and your can support your

view with logic and evidence-based reasoning, it is important to learn why other people take

their positions. Being able to have civil debates where all parties respect one another and agree to

hear what the other is saying show true maturity and consideration. I would like to live in a

world where these kinds of interactions are typical, but we seem to have a long ways to go.
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In my Intro to Global Politics class we were challenged to find examples of how different

countries report about a specific world event based on their political agendas. We had learned

about alliances between countries and the benefits and shortcomings of soft and hard power.

Using this knowledge for our assignment, I chose to focus on the attack on humanitarian aid

convoys in Syria, which just like any historical event, has irrefutable facts that describe the

situation. However, the difference lies in which facts are emphasized or even taken out of

context to portray the event in a specific light. I analyzed news coverage of the event from BBC

News with AL Jazeera with is a source from Qatar. The Western source attempts to point fingers

at Russia and the Syrian regime but does not seem to be giving the entire truth to its viewers,

while the nonwestern source attempts to persuade their people to maintain high morale and

continue their fight (“Attack on Humanitarian Aid Convoy in Syria”). From this assignment I

learned the importance of reading about and event from various news sources. The different

view-points will be beneficial in determining for myself what may have happened, but it also

allows me to have a better understanding of the various sides of an argument and the larger

political agendas that may have been at play.

Global Citizenship and Intercultural Competency

Due to completing my undergraduate degree as well as all my physical therapy school

pre-requisites in just under three years, I was unable to travel abroad during my time at

Bridgewater. However, I was still able to begin exploring the world from right here in

Bridgewater, Virginia. In my freshman Spanish class, we were required to read articles about

customs from Spanish speaking countries. I chose to compare mine workers in Bolivia to those

in the United States for my first reflection. It gave me an interesting outlook on what my life
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could have looked like had I grown up in another country. For instance, young children are often

employed in the mines in Bolivia, while also being expected to get an education at the same time

(“Diario Cultural”). From learning about the circumstances that people have growing up in other

countries, I have become more appreciative of the opportunities I have often taken for granted as

an American. I have been blessed growing up with two parents who had the means to love and

support me in every venture I wished to pursue. It not only makes me want to strive harder for

success so that I can also give my children this opportunity, but to also look for ways that I can

better the lives of children all over the world.

Prior coming to Bridgewater, I had the opportunity to travel to El Salvador to help build a

school for a community and establish people who would be suited to teach the children. At the

time I do not think I truly appreciated the impact that I was making on the many children who

now can learn about things they never would have had the chance to. As I have become more

aware of the various conditions in other less developed countries during my time here, I can say

that in the future I would like to try to help when and wherever I can. With my eventual

profession of physical therapy, I hope to find opportunities where I can help those who would

not normally have access to such luxuries. This may be in countries who do not have the

profession, but it also might mean that in my clinic I hold certain hours specifically for people

who do not have good insurance or could not typically afford the cost of therapy.

Public Discourse: Citizenship and Community Responsibility

In a major class, Personal and Community Health, we looked at specific issues that are

affecting Americans and were instructed to create a proposal for how we can improve the issue

in our own communities. My group chose to focus on the rise of youth violence in communities

across the country. I had the opportunity to learn about Healthy People which is a journal that
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comes out every twenty years which lists many objectives about how to improve the health of

our country. They use specific statistics to set target goals and layout methods for reaching their

goal. These objectives include goals such as reducing the number of Americans who smoke,

increasing the ability to get fresh food urban areas, and increasing the amount of physical activity

people participate in. The initiatives attempt to accomplish their goal in the ten years until the

next installment comes out with new goals (“Youth Violence Rationale”).

When researching the statistics on youth violence from Healthy People, it was shocking

to see how big of a problem youth violence has become. They were attempting to combat the

issue by decreasing the prevalence of bullying, lowering the number of weapons brought on

school grounds, and decreasing the amount of physical fighting that occurs (“Youth Violence

Rationale”). While this project did not make me want to go out and start a program like the one

we proposed, it was an awakening experience to become aware of this specific issue. In my own

life, I want to lead by example in terms of promoting good health. Eating certain foods in

moderation, exercising regularly, and taking care of my mental health are all important aspects of

my life and I hope that I can be a good influence on those around me. As a physical therapist I

will be able to encourage my patients to take control of their health and actively attempt to

improve it.

Throughout my learning experiences in classes ranging from topics such as the American

healthcare system to current European history, I have learned that there are many injustices in

this world, and it is not beneficial to point fingers at other people in attempt to make them

change their ways. I could ask others to change until I turned blue in the face, but it has been

proven that the greatest way to evoke change is to start with one’s self. As Mahatma Gandhi

said, “be the change you wish to see in the world.” I have learned that global change does not
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just happen on its own. It is often the result of one individual making an impact on those around

them and that in turn starts the fire of change. Therefore, I believe it is my community

responsibility to not only act with integrity and compassion toward those around me, but to

encourage others to do the same.

Ethical Reasoning

I chose to take Professional Ethics with Dr. Abshire to fulfill my philosophy and ethical

reasoning electives. While this was a very time intensive class, I appreciate that many of the

assignments required me to think deeply about the cases we were reviewing. It is easy to read a

case with an ethical dilemma and come to a quick conclusion about how the situation should be

handled in your own opinion. However, the more mature way to conquer the issue is to analyze

the case using the VALUES-C system. This method looks at the important facts and people

involved, analyzes what ethical principles, theories, and Kohlberg/Gilligan stages the characters

are applying, and evaluates the ethical strengths and weaknesses that are associated with each

possible outcome before determining the best option (“Ethical Case Evaluation”).

VALUES-C is an acronym that delineates how a person should examine, evaluate, and

act when an ethical dilemma arises. The “V” stands for viewing important facts of the situation

such as who is involved, what necessary ethical codes will be helpful in the evaluation, and what

facts from the case are relevant in determining the correct course of action. The “A” stands for

asking important questions. This section allows the evaluator to ask questions, which may or

may not be able to be answered, that would allow for the case to be clearer. The “L” stands for

list important people and it goes together with the “U” section. In these steps a person evaluates

the major characters involved in the issue and identifies what ethical principles, theories, and
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Kohlberg/Gilligan stages they each are acting out of. Then the person analyzes what conflicts

may arise based on this list. The “ES-C” steps all go together and there are typically about three

for each case. This is where several different solutions are proposed, and both supported and

refuted using the same principles, theories, and stages that have been important for the entire

evaluation. Finally, the best course of action is chosen based on which has the highest support

with the least detrimental objections.

I took this class without expecting to learn a lot from it; however, the evaluation skills I

learned will help me in making decisions throughout the rest of my life. I most likely will not

take the time to compete the VALUES-C method for every decision, but the process of thinking

through dilemmas with the ethical theories and principles in mind is required for making the

right choice in line with your beliefs. I hope to be the owner of my own physical therapy clinic at

one point which means that I will be responsible for making decisions and supervising other

people; therefore, it is a matter of when, not if, I will encounter an ethical dilemma that I am

responsible for choosing the best course of action going forward. This class also made me

contemplate what sort of dilemmas I might encounter in my line of work. None of the scenarios

we discussed in class seemed to fit my profession as a lot were quite extreme and I would hope

that I would never been in those specific situations. Some of these included affecting the safety

or livelihood of people in other countries, while others were about the way to handle conflict

within an organization. Unfortunately, the world we live in today is not as pretty as it once was.

Due to this, there has become a more prevalent push in the healthcare field to pay attention to

signs of sexual misconduct in the workplace and patient abuse. As a leader in my practice I will

most likely need to establish policies and procedures to attempt to minimize the possibility of

these events occurring and put in place consequences for the perpetrators for when these events
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do happen. I will be able to use the knowledge from this class to determine how to best handle

these cases in a professional and appropriate manner.

Conclusion

Looking back on my years at Bridgewater, I feel as if I have gained more than a degree in

Health and Exercise Science. I have learned things that will allow me to contribute positively to

society and be a strong role model in my community. I am grateful for everything I have learned

here, both in an out of the classroom. As I enter the next stage of my life, I feel prepared in both

academic and social capacities to succeed in physical therapy school.