Student Spotlight – Ellen Stryker

Education is one of the four pillars of UNMC’s mission and our students are the lifeblood of that aspect of campus life.

In UNMC Today’s Student Spotlight, we get to know some of these students, who are training to become tomorrow’s health care professionals.

Today we meet second-year physical therapy student Ellen Stryker.

• Name: Ellen Stryker
  
• Hometown: Omaha
  
• Year/program: 2nd year – Physical Therapy

Ellen Stryker

One of my favorite memories would be volunteering with our class at Fun Fitness, part of the Special Olympics State Games. It was great to put our clinical skills to use and help the athletes. I also have had the opportunity to coach a Special Olympics swim team, which has allowed me to use the information and skills we are learning in class.

Our four brand values are leadership, commitment to excellence, working together and being a trusted resource. Pick one and share a story of how you saw it in action at UNMC.

I see leadership in action everyday in my classmates, but the best example is the dedication and leadership of my classmate, Kasey Vance, to the physical therapy program’s commitment to philanthropy. She has organized weekly service opportunities that have gotten all three classes involved with Youth Athletics Program where we help children with special needs with balance, jumping, running and other motor skills. She also organized our program’s involvement with Midwest Heart Connection’s “Hearts of Hope” fundraiser.

List three things people may not know about you.

• I’ve lifeguarded for eight years and have never had to save anyone except on the first day of swim team practice.
  
• Hurricane Wilma forced my mom, sister and me (in addition to the entire orphanage) to evacuate the Farm of the Child with the assistance of the Honduran military and their military vehicles.
  
• I called Facebook “the devil” throughout undergrad. It became a joke that I would get Facebook on the day of graduation, which is exactly what happened.