The drive out was amazing! My mother rode out with my dog and I so it was not too boring of a highway trip. We stopped in Akron, Ohio, for two days to rest, and visit the local parks. I love hiking and seeing the greenery. It is amazing how every part of the country is so vastly different. Additionally, we stopped for an hour at the Flight 93 crash site. This site was humbling and beautiful. I was able to feel compassion and understand the bravery the people on this flight demonstrated. I am happy our country and many Americans are able to honor the people of this flight. When we arrived at the Airbnb it was late and I was happy to curl up next to Maggie, my dog, and just sleep. Lastly, prior to starting my first day at APTA I was able to view just a few of the museums at the national mall. The art is phenomenal and allows you to truly engage with a variety of cultures. Cannot wait to go to more exhibits and experience the fullness our nation’s capital has to offer!
Week one was chaotic to say the least. This was the time of APTA’s quarterly meeting and updates. It was fun to see the whole company come together to share their successes, membership views, and collaborate to offer bold ideas on ways to manage membership and value of APTA. I arrived at a time where I had little work to do, and lots of chatting. It was fun to meet with the variety of specialties within APTA. They have government affairs, public relations, social media specialists, student and grassroot coordinators, human resources, financial, information technology specialists, research, and others. Meeting all of these people who decided to work at APTA really demonstrated how each of these professions are vital to the success of an association. I was able to meet and collaborate with the leaders of APTA. On Thursday we had our big staff meeting which included lunch and a cornhole tournament at the end. Honestly, I was doing pretty great at the cornhole, even though we didn’t make it very far! Overall, my first week demonstrated the truly amazing work and community environment it is attempting to portray for its staff.
Until next time,
Cortney
Cortney Meunier is a graduate student in the Doctor of Physical Therapy program at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Originally from Oconto Falls, Wis., Cortney serves as the 2024 Alexa Posny Scholar, interning with the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) at its headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Follow along on her blog and see additional photos on Facebook.