Mentee: Braylee Gaertner
Braylee is still enjoying her major this semester! She is pre-Physical Therapy and is taking classes for her major as well as taking the pre-requisites for graduate school. She is enjoying her classes because she likes having bigger lectures and being more independent. A study habit Braylee has figured out works for her is going to Thompson between her classes to get ahead on her school work. Another study habit she has found helpful is that she is reviewing the material that will be discussed in the next lecture a day before as well as reading the textbook required for the class. She has slightly changed her study habits from the fall by reading ahead rather than reading the text after it was taught in class.
Braylee is very involved on campus. One thing she is a part of as well as me is the pre-PT and OT club. She is also a member of the dance club. She feels that now in her second semester she is much better at balancing her academics and extra-curricular activities. She really loves all of the clubs she participates in and does not plan on changing her involvement next year. One thing she is thinking of doing is participating in a club called CHAARG. It’s a club that I am involved in and is an all-girl club that involves working out.
Braylee loved her first semester of being an ACE Scholar. She is really happy that she is able to live with the other ACES in Smith-Steeb and get to know them outside of the classroom. One surprising thing for her about the program is how fun the events are. She was expecting events that would be hard work and not super fun to go to but has really loved each and every event so far. Her favorite event has been the community commitment and the mentor-mentee retreat this semester because she won the tower challenge. She does not really have any recommendations for improving ACES but hopes we continue doing fun things at the retreats as well as keeping the Jimmy Johns.
While at the beginning of the semester she was thinking of changing to pre-OT, she decided to stay on her path to physical therapy. She is thinking more specifically as to the age group of patients she wants to work with and is thinking she wants to work with little kids. She has a few cousins that a pretty young and finds it a lot of fun to play with them and thinks that working with kids would be awesome too. For grad school, she needs to complete a number of observation hours in multiple fields and we discussed ways she could do that. She thinks she is going to start observation hours next fall when she has more time and more of an idea of what she wants to do. She is also thinking of adding a minor to her curriculum. Braylee is also thinking of getting an internship but also wants to study abroad in the future. We discussed how she could use her STEP money to help fund the two and that she could almost fully cover a study abroad trip with the money.
Braylee’s favorite memory of last semester would probably be the trip to North Market. She had a ton of fun with her fellow ACES and loved the food. She is hoping to take her family there when they visit. One goal she has for herself this semester is to get to know more people. She feels that making friends is always a positive thing and hopes to make many more.