Question and Answer 1:Project 1

I decided to interview my friend Brittani for my first interview.  She's a Kinesiology major at UMass and, since I've always been kind of interested in the major, I decided she'd be a good person to ask about it.

What interested you in Kinesiology as a major?

I always liked sports in high school.  I was a cheerleader and I had a lot of injuries from that so I learned a lot about the body when I was treated.  The trainers room was always interesting to me.  I always learned something new.

What do you plan on doing with the major when you graduate?  Graduate school?  Med school possibly?

I really want to work with athletes or younger people.  Older people are harder to deal with and it takes a certain type of knowledge to work well with them too.  And medical school is a definite no.  Blood grosses me out, but I know I'll have to get used to it at some point to work with athletes.  Being a personal trainer interests me, so I might go to grad school for that.

What kind of people do you want to work with? 

I want to work with athletes mostly.  I think that interests me the most because I was one and I still love to work out.  Also, I think it interests me because UMass it a Division 1 school for sports and I hear and study cases on UMass athletes a lot in my classes now.  The trainers room at UMass even has a class you can take where you work with the athletes for a semester.

How are the Kinesiology classes at UMass? Hard? Easy? Interesting?
They're definitely hard and interesting.  The required classes, like math, physics and anatomy, were the hardest. But I learned a lot that I can apply to my future classes.  It really helps to learn the material when you keep using it.  I know that in some of my other classes, when I learn things I know I'll never use again, it makes it really easy to forgot the information. The Kin classes require you to know so much, all I do is memorize words and definitions.

Do you have any specific classes or course plan lined up for the next 2 years?

Yes.  I want to focus mainly on a physical therapy concentration in my major.  I'm mostly planning on taking classes that have to do with the body, mechanics, movement, and conditioning.  I'm also interested in food breakdown and how muscles use food to work better.  It's hard to know what to eat when you work out.

Do you enjoy the major and would you recommend it to other students who may be interested in it?

I love the major. I think a lot of the students in the major love it because we're very motivated.  I would recommend that anyone who is interested in it to go for it.  If you really know that it's what you want to do then the hard parts of the major will work themselves out.