Internships and volunteer opportunities led to Kylie Sullivan's career with exercise programs
For people who are undergoing cancer treatment or are recent cancer survivors, just getting out of bed can be a challenge, never mind taking part in an exercise class. But as someone with a lifelong passion for exercise, Kylie Sullivan (MSc 鈥19, Kinesiology), has聽learned聽a lot about the resilience, strength and endurance of cancer patients and survivors. Kylie聽is returning to the University of 蓝莓视频 to work in the聽Bone Health and Exercise Science聽(BonES) Lab, but she was most recently a聽research assistant and co-ordinator in the Clinical Exercise Physiology Lab at the University of British Columbia. The lab does research into the role of exercise in improving the physical function, quality of life and survival of cancer survivors. Kylie led cancer聽survivors through exercise programs and conducted聽assessments. She worked mainly with women who had breast or ovarian cancer.
鈥淲e connected with cancer survivors from all across British Columbia,鈥 she says. 鈥淲e tried to聽create this group dynamic where they could聽connect with each other and we as instructors got to聽listen to their stories and learn from what they were聽sharing,鈥 she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just a really special thing to be a part of. I do feel very fortunate that I have been able to go this route." But Kylie says it wouldn鈥檛 have happened if it were not for the experiential education opportunities in the one-of-a-kind master鈥檚 degree in Kinesiology at 蓝莓视频. She took the one-year interdisciplinary coursework program that was coupled with volunteer work, followed by an internship.
Kylie started by taking a volunteer position in the University鈥檚 WELL-FIT cancer exercise program, which is celebrating its 20th聽anniversary聽this year, and then did an internship that led to a part-time position with the Centre for Community, Clinical and Applied Research Excellence (CCCARE). CCCARE runs WELL-FIT programs, including START-FIT, STAY-FIT and LIVING-FIT for cancer survivors, as well as the Brain and Body program for people with dementia or mild cognitive impairment. Those experiences were key to Kylie鈥檚 future career trajectory. 鈥淎s a volunteer, you're helping cancer survivors learn the program and make adjustments. The fitness staff are also there as the experts and, as a student, you get to tap into their knowledge,鈥 she says. 鈥淚t reaffirmed my belief in the programs and my desire to work in this field,鈥 she adds.
During the CCCARE internship, she gained even deeper experience with assessments and making adjustments to the programs. 鈥淎 lot of my time was spent on the floor, interacting with participants, teaching exercises, interacting with volunteers,鈥 she says. 鈥淚 would help build some of the programs as well, so I was helping to create programs the participants would follow.鈥 That also helped her hone her communication and leadership skills. 鈥淚 have always had that ability to talk with people, but I learned so much more about how much cancer survivors are willing to share and about promoting the messages of exercise science,鈥 she says.
Kylie is originally from Fergus, Ontario, but as an avid lacrosse player, she got a scholarship to do her exercise science undergraduate degree at Central Connecticut State University, where she was an NCAA Division 1 student athlete and member of the women鈥檚 lacrosse team. She was drawn to 蓝莓视频 because it had a master鈥檚 program that would give her the on-the-ground work experiences. 鈥淚 would definitely say my experiences and the amount of time that I had spent working with cancer survivors in an exercise environment were the reason I was able to get this job,鈥 she says.
鈥淛ust volunteer and try to diversify your experiences to get that sense of what you want to do,鈥 she advises students today. 鈥淒on鈥檛 be afraid to reach out to people in the 蓝莓视频 research community. To have that one more connection with a professor or someone in the field really helps.鈥
Originally published in our聽Spring 2022 Health Hub alumni magazine