By Kristen Lutz
AMTA-MA Chapter Newsletter & Email Editor
I had the pleasure of "sitting down" with one of our 2020 Dianne Polseno Scholarship Recipient, Miguel Aragoncillo, to get to know a little more about how this award will affect him and his future practice. Miguel was the recipient of $1,000 and a free year of AMTA-MA membership. Did you know we have one $1,000 and two $500 (PLUS A YEAR OF FREE AMTA MEMBERSHIP!) just waiting for some brilliant and talented souls to take home each year? Here's what Miguel had to say about how the scholarship will make an impact on his career.
Q. How did you hear about the Dianne Polseno Scholarship?
A. I heard about the Dianne Polseno Scholarship from the emails I receive from the AMTA. I did some digging, and did some of my own research before committing fully to the scholarship process.
Q. Where are you attending school and do you have a favorite class/area of study?
A. I am attending school at The Elizabeth Grady School of Esthetics and Massage Therapy in Medford, MA. My favorite class and area of study are sports massage and understanding pathologies of the human system. By understanding pathologies, I can hopefully have a better understanding of what to expect when I begin practicing in the real world when things aren’t often as “clean cut” as we all make it out to be. With sports massage, I hope to be able to apply these principles in my practice when working with athletes.
Q. What will be the first thing you do with your Scholarship Award? If you're not sure, you can talk about some ways the money will help you prepare for the start of your practice.
A. This is an interesting time we are living in nowadays, so I hope to use this money to help fund my practice for equipment, utilities, or tools when business gets back to any sort of normalcy. If not, then I will use the funds by investing more into my education.
Q. How will the Award make an impact on your massage therapy practice?
A. This award will create an opportunity for advancement for my education, which will help create distinction and uniqueness in my practice. Education simply isn’t about learning topics and subjects randomly, but rather it is about creating a foundation for any given skill, and then building a knowledge and skillset around that foundation. I hope to create a solid foundation for my practice, and then building more information to enhance that foundation for the people I will eventually serve
Q. What would you like to say to next year's applicants?
A. We all have different reasons for applying for a scholarship – our connection to Dianne Polseno through our teachers and mentors, aid with further education, or aid with future business plans. By applying, you’ll hopefully begin to understand the reasons behind why you want to become a therapist, and will become more grounded in these reasons. For myself, it is important to know whom you want to help, and why you want to help those individuals, because then you can apply freely without doubting yourself.
Q. Why is it important for people to contribute to the Dianne Polseno Scholarship Fund?
A. It is important because supporting (even a little bit) to this scholarship fund will allow other aspiring therapists to begin their education and business practice with a helping hand from other therapists. This outlines the community that is evident through the Massachusetts state chapter, but also outlines the humanity that is needed in today’s day and age. With that said, thank you to all who have helped contribute to my education and business practice, it is much appreciated!