Bridgeside Community Member Spotlight: Emma Cemalovic
Meet Emma Cemalovic, Student and Fundraising Chair for the University of Pittsburgh’s Department of Physical Therapy (PT). When she isn’t busy being active, watching tv, and spending time with friends, you can find her studying and fundraising.
As part of our Community Member Spotlight series, we caught up with Emma about her future goals, what she’s most looking forward to, and some advice she’d share with others!
Q: What are you looking forward to in the next school year?
A: As the Fundraising Chair, my goal is to be able to fund my classmates for our Combined Sections Meeting (CSM) next year, which is run by the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA). CSM is an annual physical therapy conference where students have the chance to interact with other Physical Therapy professionals, as well as learn more about current research in the physical therapy world. This is an incredible networking opportunity for students, as well as an opportunity to engage with our field even more. This has been an event I know myself and my classmates are looking forward to and as Fundraising Chair I am excited at the chance to make it happen!
Q: What's been the most rewarding part of your role?
A: The President and Treasurer of my class assisted in putting on the DPT Olympics this past July, which was a fundraising event for CSM. It was held at our building, Bridgeside Point, where teams of three competed against each other in various events for the title of DPT Olympic Champion! We had 14 teams compete and even had some Physical Therapy staff get involved as well. This was an incredibly rewarding experience because we were able to start raising money for CSM and hopefully created an event that can become annual!
Q: What are your future goals?
A: My future goals are to set up fundraising events and ideas that are able to carry over for years to come, ensuring that new students are able to get the same experience of going to CSM.
Q: What is one piece of advice you would give to someone just starting their career in your field?
A: One piece of advice I would give to someone in this position would be to start planning early and have a great group of people to support your plan! I could not have done this without my President and Treasurer's help! Also the earlier you start, the more money you can raise – win-win!
Q: What's one thing you would tell people about the Bridgeside Point community?
A: The Bridgeside Point community is extremely welcoming and as Fundraising Chair I’ve had more opportunities to interact and work with others that are within the community, which I'm very grateful for!
Do you want to be featured in our Community Member Spotlight series? Simply fill out this request form for a chance to have your story shared!