Lauren Ryan

Learning through experiences

If college is about exploring options and investigating opportunities, Lauren Ryan is a true role model.

A self-professed hands-on learner, Lauren, an exercise science major, was introduced to cardiac rehabilitation from a job shadowing experience facilitated through one of her PETM courses.

“I took some sports management classes in high school and always assumed I’d pursue something like sports medicine or athletic training,” Lauren says. “In one of my early PETM courses, we learned about all of the jobs you can do with a kinesiology degree and now I think exercise science is a better fit for me.”

Our department’s faculty is awesome. They’re always eager to help, which makes me feel I’m where I should be.

Part-time job offers hands-on insight

Complementing what she’s learned about careers in exercise science, Lauren has gained a wealth of real-world knowledge and experience from service learning opportunities. For an assignment for a training performance and teaching course, she was introduced to Physically Active Residential Communities & Schools (PARCS), a health and wellness outreach program that provides low-cost fitness and wellness services to urban Indianapolis neighborhoods. PARCS locations are staffed by students in kinesiology and other IUPUI departments. So impressed with PARCS, Lauren applied for a part-time position at the program’s Near Eastside Legacy Center.

“I love working there because I’m constantly interacting with and talking to people,” Lauren says. “What I’m learning in my exercise science courses I’m able to teach to others, and that’s a real form of hands-on learning for me, too.”

Finding purpose outside the classroom

A dancer since the age of six, Lauren supplements her IUPUI coursework with involvement in The Moving Company at IUPUI, a student-led group that performs modern, ballet, tap, jazz and other dance styles on campus and at venues around Indianapolis. The School of Physical Education and Tourism Management is a partner of The Moving Company, which is open to any IUPUI student.

“There aren’t tryouts; it’s a group made up of students who want to learn and try various forms of dance, stay physically active, and take advantage of the therapeutic benefits,” says Lauren, who serves as president of the organization. “Our goal is to increase awareness that there is a dance group on campus.”

Leading her peers

After attending Camp Brosius as a student, Lauren knew she wanted to go back...as a counselor, "I truly felt as if my leadership qualities improved and I wanted to be able to help other PETM students believe in their own potential." She returned the following summer to help facilitate the leadership courses for her fellow students.

As a counselor, she draws on her own experiences to advise students. She remembers being simultaneously energized and frustrated, and helps them attain the growth that the experience is designed to foster.

Laurens best advice to students attending camp: "Keep an open mind, bring an extra blanket, and make the most of your experience. "

The future begins here

Just two years away from graduation, Lauren is thinking about the future. In addition to cardiac rehabilitation, she’s also interested in sports performance and strength training. Whatever she decides, in the short term she’s fairly sure she’ll stay at PETM to earn a master’s degree in kinesiology.

See how PETM prepares students for success.