Bailee Baggerman is a junior working towards a bachelor of science while majoring in human performance at West Texas A&M University. Baggerman is from Happy and is working hard to get others back to their day-to-day lives.
Baggerman is working towards assisting others in their recovery process.
“I want to be a physical therapy assistant,” Baggerman said.
After being injured in sports, Baggerman knew she wanted to be there for other athletes.
“So originally, I was studying athletic training here because I came from a small school, and I played sports my whole life,” Baggerman said. “And we didn’t have athletic trainers, so I had no one to help me with all my injuries, which made me not have the chance to pursue sports after those injuries. That was kind of my goal to play sports in college, but because of injuries, I couldn’t. So, I really wanted to help athletes, especially since I didn’t get the chance as an athlete. I want to become a physical therapy assistant because I just want to help athletes and help people get better.”
Athletic trainers help people get back into their routine and over any hesitations they may have.
“So with injuries, there’s a lot of mental blocks and physical blocks,” Baggerman said. “So physical therapy definitely helps physically while helping their mental state and making sure that they get back to their jobs or their athletics, whatever they want to do.”
One of Baggerman’s favorite parts of her major is the hands-on experience.
“I really like that it’s so hands-on because I get to learn a lot more,” Baggerman said. “I get to do special tests and like testing for different injuries which is cool.”
After graduating from WT next year, Baggerman plans to continue academia.
“So after I leave the WT, I’m gonna go enroll in the physical therapy assistant program at Amarillo College and hopefully become a physical therapy assistant,” Baggerman said. “And then after that, I may want to go get my master’s in physical therapy.”
Baggerman was interested in WT because it is close to home and is a small community.
“Since I’m from Happy, WT was only about 50 miles away,” Baggerman said. “WT has always kind of felt like family and then I just knew a lot of people here. WT has kind of a small community so everybody knows each other. Canyon is also a really nice town and I like living in Canyon.”
Since coming to WT, Baggerman has been given the chance to get out of her comfort zone.
“WT has definitely allowed me to branch out because I was extremely shy before going to college,” Baggerman said. “So it’s definitely helped me to meet new people and seek out opportunities.”
One of Baggerman’s favorite parts of WT is the professors.
“I like that the professors actually get to know you,” Baggerman said. “I like how they know every student by name; it’s not just a classroom full of students they don’t know.”
Around campus, Baggerman plays basketball and flag football for recreational sports. Aside from academics, Baggerman enjoys walking her dog, working out and spending time with her fiance.
Baggerman believes you should get involved.
“Just to step out of your comfort zone and get involved on campus,” Baggerman said. “I feel like that’s why I’m not as involved; I didn’t try to get involved when I first got to WT. So getting involved is really important.”
