The Life of a Student at Boomerang Health

Who am I?

My name is Laura Vacca, I am a 4^th year Kinesiology student at The University of Guelph-Humber, and I was given the chance to complete a volunteer placement at the organization of my choice. I am so pleased to report that a 3 month placement at Boomerang Health worked out wonderfully!

Why Boomerang Health?

I initially heard about Boomerang Health through a former placement adviser and decided to look into it. After my first interview, I had the chance to meet a group of other amazing people that are part of the Boomerang team, which gave me a great understanding of what the clinic is all about. Boomerang Health is a laid back, fun place to work, and the whole atmosphere is quite inspiring. I was a competitive gymnast and soccer player in my past years and have had my fair share of injuries and visits to physiotherapy. That is what motivated me and interested me to apply to an organization like this. I also worked as a recreational gymnastics coach for many years and have always had that connection and passion to help children in any aspect.

What’s is it Like at Boomerang?

My first day at Boomerang was so much fun and I knew from there on that I would love the place and the people that worked there. I got a feel for what I would be doing across the semester, such as working in Neurodevelopmental Physiotherapy and Orthopaedic Physiotherapy. I also had the chance to help run the Social Skills Group, alongside the Occupational Therapist and Speech-Language Pathologist, that the clinic offers every Tuesday evening. The group ran from October to December and helped teach seven children about social skills, self-regulation, and so many more life skills. The best part of working with this group was seeing and hearing from the parents that the things we were teaching them were actually being translated to life at home and at school.

I am so grateful that I got the chance to work with such an amazing team at such an awesome clinic. Everyone was so welcoming and eager to teach me new things about all of the different departments that the center has to offer. Over these last few month’s most of my time was spent in the Neurodevelopmental Physiotherapy department and I have gained so much knowledge about what is offered, and what certain patient’s goals are. I have also worked with the Orthopaedic Physiotherapist, Occupational Therapist, and the Speech-Language Pathologist. I have learned about so many different paths that I could go in after I complete my Kinesiology degree that I didn’t even think I could get into. The amount of time and effort these practitioners put into their patients and the fact that they all work as a team to help each individual child makes me wonder why a clinic like this wasn’t opened earlier!

What Have I Learned?

A lot of the knowledge I gained throughout this experience was about myself, and figuring out what is the best path for me after this last year of my undergraduate degree. The amount of exposure and experience I have gotten in the field has been amazing and will also help me in the future to get to where I want to be. I see myself working with children in the future because that has always been my passion. I love the feeling of being a role model to them and returning them to an activity that they are passionate about. Being at the clinic has reinforced my interest for Physiotherapy that I have had for so long. Learning from members of the team at Boomerang that during a graduate degree in Physiotherapy, you can get a feel for every area, was really comforting and it pushed me to get excited about applying for Physiotherapy school this coming year.

Boomerang is definitely the type of place I see myself working in the future and this opportunity has encouraged me to stay on the current path that I am on. It has been one of the most awesome experiences and has prepared me for the future and what comes next. Any student that has the opportunity to work with this amazing team, at this amazing place, would say the same wonderful things.