Marco I.

The path to your goals doesn’t always follow a straight line.  Just ask Marco Ignigni.  After he received his Bachelors degree in Community Health Education in 2002, he worked as an emergency medical technician and rehabilitation aide for three years. But then, he recalls, “Life just took over and I ended up bartending full-time.  I was thinking about going into physical therapy, but it just didn't happen at the time.”  

Two years ago, Marco read about the Physical Therapist Assistant (PTA) Associate of Science degree offered at Bay State College, and something clicked. “I didn’t know if I was ready to commit to a four-year program,” he says. “So I talked to a financial aid advisor at Bay State, and it seemed like the two-year PTA program would be a good fit for me.”

Marco admits that the PTA program has been “pretty intense” from the start.  “There's a lot of work involved—and a lot of hands-on information that you need to learn on top of homework.  It's a full-time commitment for two years.”  But with all of its demands, the program also has given Marco the opportunity to build strong friendships with his fellow students and professors.

“I just think the support of my instructors and my classmates personally helped me through the program at times when I wasn’t sure I was going to make it,” he says.  “And I think most of my classmates would say the same.  Everybody has gotten to know each other real well.  And because we know and trust each other, we're able to work well together.” 

Now that he’s preparing to graduate, Marco is excited about what lies ahead.  “It's a little sad to leave, but Bay State definitely has opened up a new chapter in my life.”  And his advice to new PTA students?  “If you really want something, you're going to do whatever it takes to make it happen,” he states.  “You need to put 110 percent into it to get 110 percent out of it.”