Joshua Balagtas

What made you decide to enroll at the University of Maryland?
What made me decide to enroll at the University of Maryland was how academically accomplished this university was. Throughout high school, I've heard from families and friends that UMD was an amazing school with the best education in Maryland, and since I wanted to stay closer to home when going to college, it was already a perfect choice to consider. As I went through my senior year, I did more research about some programs I would like to major in, and there were a lot I could've considered, but the school that interested me the most was the School of Public Health and how great it would be to participate in their respective majors.

What major/career path do you plan on pursuing and how did you select that path?
The major I plan on pursuing is kinesiology and I'm looking to become a physical therapist in the health field. Throughout my academic career, I had always taken an interest in the health field, although I did not know exactly what I wanted to do. At first, I started at UMD as a public health major, but then soon realized that kinesiology had a lot of careers I was more interested in within the School of Public Health. I wanted a career that also dealt with more physical activity and sports since I also took a lot of interest in those activities and would like to make it a career for myself. Becoming a physical therapist for professional sports or dealing with certain physical activities sounds like something great and interesting that I would like to pursue here at UMD.

Activities I do outside of class or community service/volunteer activities I'm involved with:
Some activities that I do outside of class are sports, like basketball and lacrosse that I participate in back at home when I can. I also continuously participate in physical activities as much as I can by going to the gym during some free time or just simply going out for walks with others. Most of the time, I like to be outside my house doing something rather than stay at home. Some community service/volunteer activities I was involved in were at my local church, participating in food drives and donations, or helping out the staff for services during the week since my family is already involved with them.

Aside from academics, what else do you hope to take away from your time at Maryland?
Aside from academics, I hope to take away a great experience on campus from my time in Maryland. The campus and its atmosphere with activities and student groups are amazing, and I want to be a part of it all. Simply going to sports games with people and joining clubs with others sounds amazing, and I'm excited to look more into them during my time here. Creating relationships and building my career would be the end goal of my time at UMD.

What are your future goals after graduation?
My future goal after graduation is to possibly look for work right away that fits my qualifications, or even go back to school and pursue a higher degree in my major. By then, I hope to have filled my resume, allowing me to find a job that would hire me preferably within the medical field of course.