Madi-Lynne Englund is a sophomore working towards a bachelor of science while majoring in sports and exercise science at West Texas A&M University. Englund is from Slaton, Texas, and is working hard at achieving her goals by pursuing her passion for helping others.

Englund’s life revolved around sports, where she spent her whole life playing competitive softball through doing track and field, cross country and basketball at her school district. However, Englund’s passion for pursuing sports and exercise science began in an unfortunate way.

“I want to do physical therapy,” Englund said. “I had shoulder surgery this past summer and was able to go through that rehabilitation process. The impact that my physical therapist had on me, it just made me grow and want to do it.”

Englund spent 15 years playing softball competitively. Unfortunately, Englund suffered a shoulder injury that required surgery and would inhibit her abilities to play the game intensely. She lost her collegiate scholarships to play softball and was at a loss. In a bittersweet turn of events, experiencing the rehabilitation process enlightened Englund on what she wanted to do with the rest of her life; help encourage and strengthen others the way she was inspired from her physical therapist.

“My favorite thing about sports and exercise science is just being with people like me because I’m an athlete,” Englund said. “So being with people who are athletes, or who have been athletes in the past and have the same passion.”

Within sports and exercise science, there are a variety of professions to choose from. Some physical therapists work with injuries and help people recover from their injuries, some athletic trainers focus on helping athletes throughout their sports season and coaches or personal trainers teach different types of exercise and well-being.

“I came to WT for a couple of reasons,” Englund said. “My mom went here and a bunch of my family came here as well. They told me I would love it and I felt like I needed to be here because my family either went to Texas Tech University or WT. I knew Texas Tech was way too close to home, but WT was the perfect distance for me to be independent and to come back home.”

Englund has found her independence and ability to know herself better by attending WT. She loves the community and how everyone is supported and genuinely cares about others. Englund believes you should always believe in yourself, especially when others aren’t supporting you.

“You should always believe in yourself, even when nobody else does, because at the end of the day, what matters is what you think of yourself and how you push yourself,” Englund said. “Even if nobody believes you because sometimes you have to believe in yourself before others can believe in you.”