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Zarah Strahler is finishing the final days of her Massage Therapy certificate.
The Washington State Community College Student of the Month loves her career path. It's much different than her original plan of working with animals.
When she was a student at Warren High School, Strahler was intent on a career where she could help animals and spent much of her free time working for a local pet boarding business and volunteering at the humane society. Reality set in when she realized working with animals isn't all puppy kisses and wagging tales. The reality is sickness, death and euthanization would be a part of her daily life in that career.
It was more heartbreak than she could take.
For her mental well-being, she decided to take a step back and regroup.
Striving to find another career path, Strahler said it was important her work focus on helping people. After visiting Washington State and meeting Jackie Krider, the Massage Therapy Program director, Stahler knew she found what she wanted to do with her future. "Jackie is so helpful and takes her students' interests to heart," Strahler said. "She told me there is horse and dog massage and I'm very interested in learning more about that. Jackie told me that the anatomy of a horse and dog is a lot like humans. So, I will have to educate myself more about that type of massage."
As a student, Strahler had the opportunity to massage the owner of the local Zenergy Massage. As a result of the skill she displayed, she was offered an internship.
"Everyone there has been so helpful and took me under their wing," Strahler said."
She plans to keep working at the company after graduation and passing her licensure exam. In the meantime, she's honing her technique and trying to decide the type of massage upon which she wants to focus.
Among the top choices, she's considering: sports massage, facial massage, and even, yes, animal massage.
Strahler will graduate in the end of July with her certificate in massage therapy and will return in the fall to finish her final year to earn her associate degree in Health and Wellness.