Kinesiology Grad Ready to Pursue Professional Goals

For Navneet Shergill, understanding what motivated her to join the Kinesiology program at the University of Guelph-Humber helped her understand where she wanted to go upon graduation this June. “To be honest, I really had no idea what I intended to do following my degree in Kinesiology,” Shergill reflects, “but I've always known I wanted to get into a profession that would involve me helping people.”

Eventually, Shergill narrowed her focus to chiropractic and physiotherapy. The latter “likely stemmed from my experience with a shoulder injury from a Tae Kwon Do tournament years ago where I initially required surgery, but with the help of a physiotherapist I was able to strengthen the joint enough that I was no longer in need.” Through the program, Shergill found many opportunities to help others just as she was helped. One in particular stands out: “I had a practicum with Fabian Rayne in second year — therapeutic exercises for musculoskeletal disorders — where it was really the first time I felt I was able to apply the knowledge I had learned through anatomy courses to real-life situations. This really empowered me want to continue down this path.”

Her interest in chiropractic was also a result of hands-on opportunities available through the program: “I actually met the chiropractor I [now] work with through the Guelph-Humber internship portal, where I was offered a job with him after working closely with him for a semester.” The experience Shergill has gained has been invaluable, something she attributes to her employer directly: “[He has] taught me so much about the profession itself by giving me hands-on experience with it. To me, he’s more than an employer, he's really a mentor.”

Shergill has found a number of ways to continue giving back to the profession that helped her. In addition to volunteering at long-term care facilities and physiotherapy departments in hospitals, she currently works as a camp counselor at Humber’s Camp Choice: “The programs focus on exposing young students to post-secondary life and introduces them to various career paths available to them through workshops we teach. I feel it's a great experience for me to be working so closely with kids and giving back to the community.”

Shergill’s degree and diploma have since led to her recent certification as a Personal Trainer through the Canadian Society of Exercise Physiology, which opens up even more opportunities in the chiropractic and physiotherapy fields. Equipped with both her academic and real-life training, Shergill is certain to successfully pursue her career goals. She has already attained her own personal goal, one that she is particularly proud of: “Years ago I didn't know if I would even be able to make it into university, and here I am graduating.”

For more information about the University of Guelph-Humber’s Kinesiology program, visit www.guelphhumber.ca/kinesiology .