What’s your why? | Haley Alexander, Doctor of Physical Therapy student
Name: Haley Alexander
Hometown: Corona, CA
NAU Program: Doctor of Physical Therapy at NAU’s Phoenix Bioscience Core Campus
What’s your why: In the weeks before my first father-daughter dance, I was terrified. I imagined everyone looking, staring, and laughing at my dad and I. While him being in a wheelchair was something I had always known, to my friends, it was unusual and strange. I feared the looks and the questions that they would ask me. I was worried that I would be left out because my dad couldn’t pick me up and spin me in circles or let me ride around on his shoulders like everyone else. By the end of the night, all those fears vanished. Instead of getting to be carried during the slow dances, I got to hug my dad and sit on his lap as we went in circles. While everyone else was riding their dads’ shoulders back to the car, I got to ride on his lap and race down the hill. I grew up in a household with two parents who both had spinal cord injuries. Growing up in the spinal cord injury community, by five years old, I knew more people in wheelchairs or with braces and walkers than I knew people without. I had been taught how to fix my dad’s chair brakes and change a wheelchair tire by the time I was eight. I got to learn how to manage unique responsibilities and my time at such a young age while still allowing myself to live my own life with no regrets. At the same time, I got the opportunity to learn how to delegate tasks by having to teach my younger sister how to help our parents and step up into my role as I left for school. As I got older, my passion for learning about and helping the disabled community has grown. Throughout high school and my undergrad, I have written countless papers on how the disabled community needs more aid, and I have read the entire ADA law a hundred times over. I decided to pursue a DPT because I believe that I can bring a unique perspective into the physical therapy world. I want to be surrounded by people who are like my parents, who need to rebuild their lives. I want to be proof that a spinal cord injury at 17 years old doesn’t have to stop someone from living their life; my dad was able to go on to play for the Paralympic wheelchair rugby team in 1998 and 1999, he became the first quadriplegic driving instructor in the Audi Club, and he has a successful career in insurance. I now work for a non-profit corporation, Ability360, where I get to meet and interact with people of many different backgrounds and ability levels. While further igniting my passion for helping this minority group, I have also learned more about myself in my interests, and I have become more aware of the specific ways that I can assist individuals based on their mindset and ability level. Though I have had a childhood vastly different from others, I wouldn’t change it for anything. I’m so thankful and appreciative of all the opportunities and life lessons that have been presented before me, and I can’t wait to see what it has to offer next.
Advice for others considering a career in PT: Getting through school is a grind, but I think it’s worth it in the end. Get your foot in the door any way you can: volunteer, shadow, get used to helping people—it teaches you a lot about yourself and your interests!
