Student Testimonial - Kendra
Name: Kendra
Program: ESLM (Exercise Science & Lifestyle Management)
Graduate: 2016
Tell us what you’re doing workwise right now.
I am currently working at CGI, in a corporate health & well-being consultant role. I’ve been with the company for over 3 years now and I have been promoted to senior consultant in the last year. I am responsible, alongside my colleagues, for providing health and well-being initiatives, challenges, services and support for employees and leaders across Canada (12,000+ employees).
Reflect on your time just prior to Humber. Why did you choose Humber College? What was your career ambition?
I had finished my four-year university degree and graduated with a B.A. of Kinesiology, but I felt a bit lost as to where I wanted to start my career. I knew that continuing my education to follow physiotherapy, massage therapy or chiropractor pathways was not my priority or main interest and felt like I didn’t really know where else a Kinesiology degree could take me or what route I wanted to go for work.
Looking online I found the ELSM program at Humber College, as well as something similar in southwest Ontario, that offered continuing education diploma courses encompassing a variety of different classes and areas of expertise you could start a career. After comparing the two, the ESLM program at Humber College stood out with the variety of classes, as well as the two internships embedded in the program itself, which is why I ended up applying at Humber College.
How did the program set you on your path to where you are now?
The ELSM program helped me prepare and feel educated enough to write my Kinesiology licensing exam, which was a big deal for me considering I did not feel ready to write it after my undergraduate degree. The program overall helped me learn about more than just the typical fields of work (physio, massage, chiro) that most Kinesiologist go into, and gave me the opportunity to think about other opportunities for my career path. While I still didn’t have an exact idea of my “dream job”, I used this education to help me start my career as a Kinesiologist in different settings. My first employment involved 1-on-1 training for clients, which I felt comfortable doing after completing the personal training internship involved in the ESLM program. From there I switched to a clinical environment and worked as a Kinesiologist for approximately 3 years prior to my career at CGI. The clinic environment was mentally rewarding and enjoyable, and I was able to apply my knowledge from some of the classes in the ESLM program to my career at that point. Eventually the repetition, and lack of recognition and the opportunity for growth caused me to apply to other positions, outside of the clinic environment.
I cannot fully say that the ESLM course drove me into the corporate setting in the end, but when I had the chance to interview for my current role, I was able to use some of my education and experiences to answer the interview questions to my best ability and apply my knowledge in areas I may not have had work experience in yet. This ultimately led me to receiving an offer letter for the position and working with the company for a few years now.
What advice would you share to someone considering this field?
If you don’t have that “dream job” in mind or aren’t sure what path you’d like to take for your future career, the ESLM program is a great way to expand your knowledge of what’s out there in the field. Even though all of the courses may not be of interest to you, the program allows you to broaden your viewpoint and educate yourself in ways that may help you in your future career, even if it’s not in a field that directly matches something you learned about in the program. It’s also a great opportunity to improve your education background for jobs that may be looking for more than an undergraduate degree, without you having to choose a program with only one area of expertise involved (i.e., physiotherapy leading you to be a physiotherapist).
