Hannah Hanlon
ePortfolio
About Me
I am a hardworking, determined, passionate, caring girl who has an immense love of life. I strive to do my very best every day, and I am always looking for ways to help others be their very best as well. I am the second oldest of six kids, so my life is centered around family, and I love to be around kids. I have been playing sports since I was three, and I continue to have a love for them, which is why I am drawn to exercise and physical activity.
One of the reasons I am who I am today is because of my love for soccer. When I was twelve, I tried out for the club soccer team in my hometown. The man who was running our tryout asked a group of us to stay after so he could talk to us. I never expected what he was about to say. He told us that we were never going to make our high schools varsity team in a couple of years unless we got tremendously better. A lot of kids probably would have been discouraged after hearing this but not me. I worked harder than I ever had before for the next two years and because of this, I started varsity my freshman year and every year after that. This is why I am such a hard worker. I learned that with hard work and determination, you can accomplish whatever you set your mind to no matter what anyone says.
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My youngest brother, Luke, is my inspiration. Luke has cerebral palsy. His case is not as severe as some, but he still struggles daily with balance, coordination, walking, running, etc. However, he doesn't let this define him, and he always maintains a positive attitude. He is the bravest person I know. He never shies away from a challenge, even though no one would blame him if he did. He challenges me to push myself everyday. There are days when I feel overwhelmed and feel like I cannot accomplish my goals, but then I think about him. He reminds me that I have the ability to achieve anything I set my mind to. He inspires me to try new things and to never settle.
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My Major & Career Goals
My Major
I am currently majoring in exercise science at IUPUI. The reason I chose my major is because I have always had a love for exercise and physical activity. I have been playing sports ever since I was three years old and was a multi varsity sport athlete in high school. I was always the kid who incorporated a run or some type of workout into her daily routine because it is something I am passionate about. I chose exercise science so that I could stay connected to the things I love. To me, it's not about the money. I want to have career in a field that I am passionate about. I want to be excited about going to work everyday.
My Career
My career goal is to become an athletic trainer. For a while, I struggled with deciding on what my end goal would be. There were a lot of areas that I found interesting, but after working at George Washington High School through the IUPUI PARCS Program, I knew there was only one right career for me. Through my job at the high school, I met the athletic trainer there. He allowed me to shadow him during many different games. During these games, I got to experience what an athletic trainer does daily, and I made great bonds with the kids. I love that athletic trainers are the first ones who come in contact with the athletes after the injury and help to treat them, but I also loved the athletic trainers make great connections with the kids.
Engaged Learning Showcase
Located below is a link to mine and Chris Rash's virtual presentation for the Engaged Learning Showcase. The purpose of this project was to collect feedback from clients of the PARCS Program, so we could use the feedback to guide programming in the future to better meet the needs of our clientele.
P443 In Shape IUPUI Personal Training
Enlightening, Challenging, Lively, Informative, Enjoyable, Rewarding – I chose these six words because this experience has been really fun, but it has also pushed me out of my comfort zone and challenged me in many different ways. However, the challenges have been very beneficial and have taught me a lot.
This has been one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences for me. I had never trained a client one on one before this, so I was really nervous going into this experience. Two things that I really wanted myself to work on during this were to have more confidence in myself when teaching others and to become better at modifying or replacing exercises when they do not work for my client. Not only have I improved in these two aspects, but I have also learned how to use cues in order to help clients learn how to perform exercises with correct technique. I continue to learn how to tailor my exercise prescriptions to my client in order to reach her specific goals.
During our sessions, I have my client perform new exercises that she may not be very familiar with. Since she is unfamiliar with certain exercises, she is unable to perform them with the correct technique right away. I have to be able to demonstrate each exercise and use the correct cues in order to help her perform the exercises in the correct way so she benefits from them and does not hurt herself. During one of our sessions, I was having her perform a hamstring exercise called banded pull throughs. I had to provide her with the correct cues such as "flat back" and "hinge at the hip" to remind her of the correct technique. Moments like this have helped me learn what to say/do in order to help my client adjust so that she is performing the movement correctly.
My Impact and Involvement
P373 Resistance Training Plan
During this experience, I was given the opportunity to create a resistance training program over an entire year. This program taught me how to develop exercise prescriptions during off season, pre season, in season, and postseason, so that the client was appropriately progressing with his training.
P410 Service Learning – Motor Activity Clinic
This was a very unique experience, where I got to work with a child who has been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. I had the responsibility of programming different activities in the gym and in the pool that would help improve things, such as her balance, coordination, gait, etc. This experience helped me learn how to modify activities in way that my client was able to perform them. I also learned how to adapt to different behaviors and what to do in certain situations in order to make the environment more appropriate for my client.
P420 Service Learning – Health Coaching
Through this experience, I got to learn what it would be like to work with a client who was seeking the guidance of a health and wellness coach. I learned that the role of the health coach is to listen while the client talks and to give suggestions/advice when the client asks for guidance. I also learned how to help a client develop SMART goals.
Cox Scholar
This is scholarship given to IUPUI students who maintain a certain GPA, work a job and make at least a quarter of what their tuition would be, and volunteer in the community. Through this opportunity, I learned responsibility and how to work hard in order to earn things. This experience also helped me give back to the community through volunteer experiences.