Rose Lonsdale

Responsibilities

My responsibilities included working at the Iowa State Exercise Clinic with a wide variety of individuals to help improve their physical health. While working there, I assisted with physical assessments, taking blood pressures, creating tailored workout programs, leading warmups and cooldowns, and teaching individuals all different kinds of movements. I also worked with Walk With Ease. While working with Walk With Ease, I assisted with sessions, walked with participants, and helped lead warmups and cooldowns.

Accomplishments

Throughout my internship experience, I would say my greatest accomplishment is learning how to interact and adapt to any person's ability level. I was able to work with individuals with different diseases and limitations and adapt a program to cater to their specific needs. This is a skill that will be essential for me in my future career and help me treat more individuals.

Learning experience

One of the biggest things I learned from my internship has been how important it is to meet older adults where they are at, physically, and how to make exercise fun and approachable for them. While creating the Walk With Ease program, I found that organization was the most important lesson, and it helped me build a program that made sense and integrated well with the Exercise Clinic.

What advice would you give?

My advice for any future students majoring in Exercise Science would be to take advantage of internships and hands-on experiences because that’s where you really learn the most. I’d also say don’t stress if you don’t know exactly what you want to do right away since trying different experiences helps you figure it out. Try as many different things you can within the department, and it will help you decide what you work the best in and where you want to end up.