Keely ultimately chose the College and majored in human biology. She’s a pre-physical therapy student and began her studies as an ASURE student, getting hands-on research opportunities her freshman year, and became an Ambassador for the College so she can share her experiences with students still deciding what university to attend. She is minoring in the medical humanities to complement her major and future career as a physical therapist.

The medical humanities minor, in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science and Medicine, prepares students to conduct responsible medical research, to communicate and collaborate across social boundaries, engage with the public, and develop critical empathy skills. As the department notes on their website, “…having a background in humanities is becoming an asset for medical school applicants,” and anyone who will be working in a healthcare role with patients.

“The medical humanities,” Keely explained, “deals with the history of medicine as well as ethics surrounding medicine. To get the minor, we mostly take ethics and logic classes. I was really interested in the history of medicine. I like hearing about all of the old techniques and I found the ethical path of medicine throughout history to be really cool.”

After her studies in the medical humanities, she said, Keely is interested in outpatient issues regarding opioid addiction after receiving prescriptions post-surgery. “I think it would be really cool to get involved with places like pain clinics in my career – working with people who are in pain. Their pain may be chronic and therefore opioids only temporarily alleviate pain.”

Keely has been preparing for the next step, her career, since before she decided on IU. Part of her process when picking a university was the importance of alumni networks.

"I was looking at different, smaller schools," she explained, "and if there are people in my future office who went to, say, the University of Illinois, a lot of them would speak up for people from IU, simply because it’s a Big Ten campus.”

It certainly helps that IU has a gorgeous campus and her experience during the recruiting process, feeling like a person and not a number, was so positive.

She also utilizes the Walter Center for Career Achievement and the Health Professions & Prelaw Center (HPPLC) as she sees the end more and more in sight. Her Walter Center and HPPLC advisors have helped her as she applies for internships, graduate school, and more.

“The staff they have for advising are awesome because I would say ninety percent of the things that I did to get my internship or when I was applying to grad schools I would have never known,” she said. “And I don’t think a lot of people do know the ins-and-outs until they talk to these people who know the little secrets of these industries.”

At the Walter Center, she’s been able to focus on her resume and finding a place that’s friendly for students to rest and relax in. Besides free snacks in the hospitality suite, she’s free to stop by and hang out, get work done, or drop in for resume advising. “[The Walter Center] always says they do more than resumes,” she explains, “but I do go there to get my resume corrected a ton.”