Cody Butler
Farmer or health care professional? Those were my two options after taking the “personality job finder” quiz in the 7th grade. Growing up in a small town with chickens, pigs, and a random assortment of animals, the first option was a no-brainer for me. However, option 2 was something new and unexpected. From that time forward, my mind always returned to that thought, and after volunteering in different settings for a high school class, I was pretty sure I wanted to be a Physical Therapist because I always felt comfortable in a PT clinic.
For time’s sake, here are beautiful, poetic stories of my life made into cliff notes: First, after high school, I spent two years in Spain for a Christian/service mission; second, I returned home and later married my high-school sweetheart; third, we had a baby boy just as I was applying for PT school two years ago.
Speaking of applying, I was determined on staying in my home state for PT school. I was already going to the same undergraduate school; we felt comfortable there . . . it just made sense. I applied to two other schools that sounded like a fun place to live and called it good. Neither of those was Regis. My wife, however, persuaded me to apply to Regis for the mere fact of having an even number of schools and another option. . . . just in case.
The Butler Family
The funny thing is that I had no intentions of interviewing at Regis. I knew very little about the program except that it was a private school and that Allison Campbell, the Admissions Rep, was always on top of things: sending me emails, letters, etc. about the program and making me feel wanted. Lucky for me, interviews between my first school of choice and Regis were two weeks apart, because when I found out I was on the waiting list at school #1 and that the other two schools fell through, I still had time to reserve an interview at Regis, book a plane ticket, and begin to panic. Plan D was not an option, or was it?
However, from the first moment I came on campus, I was hooked. The grounds were beautiful, the teachers were very friendly, personal, and easy to talk to, the program was impressive; I loved the Jesuit service component, and to top it off, the lunch was amazing. I went home in a much better attitude than when coming out.
To make things complicated, I was later accepted into the program I originally wanted. My wife and I talked a lot, knowing that to choose Regis would mean a huge sacrifice, not only financially, but also leaving our comfort zone of family and friends and adventuring out on our own. There was just something about Regis that I did not feel with the other schools. Obviously, since I’m writing this, I chose Regis, and I stick to that decision. I’ve grown in ways that would not have been possible if I would have stayed with Plan A. I’ve overcome challenges and barriers through this program, have been stretched here and there, and look forward to future challenges while studying here at Regis.
