Cougar tennis senior earns admission to doctor of physical therapy program

KOKOMO, Ind. - Breanna Koester knows from experience the difference a physical therapist can make.

An Indiana University Kokomo tennis player, she battled shoulder injuries through high school, along with lower calf strains and a bulging disc in her back in college.

"I feel called to serve people, and provide healing and restoration," she said. "Physical therapy makes a difference. If you put in your effort, you're going to get something out of it."

After graduating this May with a bachelor's degree in health science and exercise science with a concentration in pre-physical therapy, Koester will begin the Doctor of Physical Therapy program at Trine University in Fort Wayne in August.

Her personal experience as an athlete gives her empathy for her future patients, she said.

"I've learned a lot about myself through my injuries, with grit," she said. "I tend to hit the gas and go 100 miles per hour as an athlete. Now I know when to push and when to back off a little bit. It's been exciting to see that growth in myself and how I can impact patients because I know what that feels like to be at your best level, and then all of a sudden you are walking with a back brace on and very slowly."

Koester, from Westfield, felt supported in her goal of becoming a physical therapist from her arrival on campus. She was nervous at first, but said faculty members including Melinda Stanley, senior lecturer in health care management; Tasha Lane, nutrition program assistant; Brandon Wysong, lecturer in biology; and Kim Mossburg, senior lecturer in health science, were among her earliest allies.

"They all just fed into the spark that I had about physical therapy and exercise and the human body, and they continued to fan that flame, which was super helpful my freshman year," she said.

She also leaned into advice she received at the KEY Summer Institute, an IU Kokomo program that helps students successfully bridge from high school to college.

"We were told to 'embrace the awkward,'" Koester said, adding that she's shared that advice with incoming first year students and high schoolers who are touring campus. She recalled meeting one of her best friends in college because she overcame her nerves to say hello while waiting in line for an athletic physical.

"You have to embrace the awkward, and be willing to be uncomfortable," she said. "College is completely different from high school, and if you don't embrace the awkward, you'll never know who you could have engaged with. It's OK to be awkward, it's OK to be nervous. Sometimes you have to do it scared. You never know what blessings will come from that."

That philosophy also led her to attend a CCO Bible study when invited by another student athlete, Cyrus Felger. Being part of the CCO (Coalition for Christian Outreach) was one of her defining experiences on campus, and one she almost missed because she worried it would be too much on top of academics and playing on the tennis team.

"Sophomore year I went to a few meetings and started to form relationships with people there," she said. "Joe (Toren, the campus leader), found me slightly overwhelmed and stressed, and has helped me turn into someone who is more relaxed and understanding of the world around us, and why it works the way it does."

She served as president her last two years on campus, and attended the Jubilee, the CCO's national conference in Pittsburgh, three years. That event, which focuses on helping college students connect their faith with all aspects of their lives, was a pivotal experience.

"I think I get a little more out of it each year," she said. "I mature in my personal faith, and as a human being. I have a greater understanding of perspective and what people carry in their lives. It gives me a better understanding of how to help people in my career, and how to be a good listener."

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