Name: Cara Kahm
Program: West Coast University
Graduation Date: August 2018
What is/are your favorite service events and why?
I love being involved with Angel City Sports, an organization providing sports opportunities to people of all ages with physical impairments. It is run by an extraordinary group of passionate people and backed by fantastic athletes! I get to combine my love of helping others to experience new things with learning more about the world of adaptive sports! I have met some amazing people through this organization and tried new activities myself including seated volleyball and wheel chair basketball. Another amazing organization is Wheels to Water giving individuals in wheel chairs the chance to get out on the water for kayaking expeditions. This gave me the chance to not only practice PT skills such as transfers, but to use my past kayaking knowledge to teach others and bring joy and adventure to everybody!
Has service helped you grow as a person or clinician? If so, how?
My service has done both these things more than I could have imagined! My eyes have been opened to how much impact one person can have on others lives, and that just by giving my time I can help people and create change! I am meeting people, making connections and getting hands on experience. It is one thing to work with other students in the classroom, but getting out into the public and community makes what I’m doing real. I have been able to develop skills that just wouldn’t happen in a classroom that will help me when I finish school and am working out in the clinic!
Why is service important to you?
I have this amazing opportunity to go to school to gain skills that can help so many people. Service is important to me because it is my way of giving back. One reason I want to be a PT is to help people, and service is a way I can do that before I have even finished school. I have learned, grown, met amazing people, had fun and helped others to have fun as well! It is the best way to empower myself, as well as those around me!
Anything else you want to add?
I am very proud and excited for my class of DPT students who have raised close to $1200 to build bikes for an organization called Together We Rise. They help to improve the lives of foster children. For our PT day of service we will be building the 20 bikes that our funds have bought!
There are so many ways to get involved and once you do, you won’t want to stop!