Jordan Walsh '25

Jordan Walsh of Allegany, N.Y., a senior exercise science major, has discovered her passion while volunteering as an emergency medical technician in her hometown.

“There’s a big part of me that just wants to give back to the community,” she said. Walsh grew up around the world as her mother’s work as a mining engineer took the family to Indonesia, Peru, Canada, Virginia and Spain.

Her grandparents live in Allegany, and when it came time to look for a college, she wanted to be near them. She has found her roots in Allegany, at Pitt-Bradford and with the Allegany Rescue and Emergency Medical Service.

“I just love being there and being able to use what I know to help people,” she said. “Patients are looking at us saying, ‘Thank you so much.’ It’s a good feeling. These people don’t even know who I am.”

After graduating, she now knows she wants to continue to help people face-to-face as a physician’s assistant. Walsh became interested in exercise science after undergoing physical therapy as a high school athlete. 

“I love the exercise science program,” she said. “I don’t think college would have been fore me without my professors. It’s supportive, but they treat us as adults. It’s a very comforting program that I would recommend to anyone.

“The exercise science program majorly helped me as and EMT,” she said, pointing to classes she was taking in how to read echocardiograms and treating chronic diseases. “It gave me a really good foundation.”