My global perspective has certainly expanded since graduating high school and coming to Georgia Southern. I grew up in a small town, and I went to a private school where everyone knew everyone, and everyone had a similar background. Coming to college for me certainly was a bit of "culture shock". While I was exposed to other cultures, races, religions, etc., through things like all-star cheerleading and traveling to other states, it was very minimal. I was not culture shocked into fear, necessarily, I was more so just curious.
Georgia Southern has done a great job of expanding my global perspective and intercultural maturity through classes such as World History, Art In Life, Cultural Illness and Disease and Diagnosis, etc. Not to mention, I get to work with people who have views that differ from my own every day in classes such as these and my major classes. I think I learned the most about varying views from Cultural Illness, Diagnosis, and Treatment. I never realized how other cultures may choose to treat an illness different from how I would until I took this class. I plan to pursue a degree in physical therapy in the near future, so knowing how to communicate with patients while not only respecting their culture, but providing them with the best care possible is extremely important. For example, some cultures prefer natural remedies over medication, so as a physical therapist I must know how to communicate with people such as this to come up with an alternative to provide them with the same quality of care I would any other patient. I have found this to be true while working as a physical therapy aid. I have had patients come in who are afraid to perform an exercise because of previous traumatic experiences, and as a healthcare provider, I have had to communicate in a way that is consoling and comforting so they feel confident in performing an exercise that is going to be beneficial to them in their rehabilitation. However, every patient that walks through the door is going to be different than the previous patient whether it be difference in age or culture, so experiences such as the above mentioned have helped me know how to communicate to every individual respectfully so they feel comfortable and safe.
Recently, I have felt much more confident in my academic and professional goals because of the intercultural maturity I have gained from classes such as this and experiences I have encountered such as working as a physical therapy aid. It takes three years post-undergrad to become a Doctor of Physical Therapy, so I have many academic goals to pursue in the near future. Many of those academic goals will be met because of my knowledge of different global perspectives. I have said before that rehabilitation is not limited to a single population, but it is open to any and all people of all different genders, races, religions, and ethnicities, so the importance of having that intercultural maturity is very important to me. I don't want to be an ordinary physical therapist. I want to be a physical therapist people feel they can trust, and a physical therapist that is respected by all people because they will get that same respect in return from me. Having knowledge of a global perspective and a gained intercultural maturity is what I believe will set me apart from other physical therapy students and physical therapists.