Rowan University’s Exercise Science Program Shapes Futures, Both In and Outside of the Classroom
Kevin Rice, president of the Exercise is Medicine club, tells the story of how Rowan helped him further his success in the exercise science field.
Graduating senior exercise science major from West Deptford, NJ (Gloucester County), Kevin Rice says exercise science wasn’t always his path. As different of a field as it is, he was actually considering starting out majoring in forensic investigation, going to a school in West Virginia. But then, Kevin says his passion for physical therapy actually started with an unfortunate accident when his mother fell down a set of steps and injured her kneecap: “And so one of my roles was to take her to physical therapy. I always knew about strength training and exercise, but I kind of overlooked physical therapy and exercise science because in my mind it was way too competitive and I didn’t really have the confidence in myself to be like, ‘yeah, I’m going to go off to graduate school.’ But after just one or two days within physical therapy, I was like, ‘wow, this is the spot.’ One of the interns at that physical therapy office actually was an exercise science student at Rowan. So I was like, ‘Hey, can you show me around?’ And the rest was history.”
Kevin praises the exercise science department’s dedication to hands-on, experiential learning: “Yeah, so I think our department is very good at applying hands-on tactics. There’s so many sectors that I can get into. But in terms of a student perspective, we have multiple classes where we have lab and personal training classes, where we’re actually going into the gym to actually work out and we’re using proper spotting techniques, we’re using prep, we’re cueing people up.”
In addition to the great field work experiences, Kevin also says that the opportunities presented by the field are numerous and lead to plenty of different options: “They’re very good at pushing internships and shadowing opportunities. Our major is broad, where there are so many outcomes, so many job career paths that you can go off to. Personally, I’m going off to grad school for physical therapy, but grad school is just one small sector of how many things you can get into with exercise science there, things like cardiac rehab. There’s strength and conditioning coaches, there’s occupational therapy, there’s an exercise physiologist. You can be a personal trainer, you can be a coach, you can be an athletic trainer, you can go into so many sectors and so you don’t really know what you’re going to enjoy until you get to try it out. So our department does a very good job.”
One of the interns at that physical therapy office actually was an exercise science student at Rowan. So I was like, ‘Hey, can you show me around?’ And the rest was history.
Kevin is also very thankful for the opportunities that Rowan directly presents to him as a result of the faculty and their connections within the field: “They provide a lot of resources because our faculty have a good network of individuals, which is really awesome. But we also have a lot of partnerships such as with Inspira Hospital, with Cooper Hospital, with local businesses and clinics that we work with there. There’s a lot of tie-in opportunities because of Rowan.”
His senior year, Kevin was president of the Exercise is Medicine club, whose main purpose he says is to promote physical activity here on campus. However, he says that it can come in many different forms, even for those who aren’t into full-on workout regimens: “Now we know that physical exercise has so many benefits, I would argue it’s more of a mental thing than it is physical. I think a lot of people get interested in working out because they want to look better. A lot of people think you have to be in the gym seven days a week with washboard abs and just absolutely jacked and that couldn’t be further from the truth. Our physical exercise is just increasing, maybe your overall steps or parking a little bit further away in the parking lot to walk further to the store.”
Students walking around campus may run into club members. “We kind of just set up in the middle of campus,” he explains, near the owl statue by Science Hall, or outside Campus Recreation. “As people walk by, we just have them test out random things, like test out your reaction time, or see how long you can hang from a bar or here’s our five balance challenge to see what level can you get up to. We just make it a fun, enjoyable experience because a lot of people are often walking with their friends and they’re like, ‘Hey, let’s try it.’”
In short, Kevin’s advice to students considering exercise science as a major and a career can be broken down into three steps: network with people, get involved, and achieve success in academics. To him, this three-step plan will help any student succeed in any field, not just exercise science.