Karissa Rowe

I was a university student living in Abbotsford when an injury caused painful, constant muscle spasms that limited my ability to do my everyday activities for over 2 weeks. I went to see the campus doctor, who recommended I see a massage therapist. I was able to see an RMT about 1 week later. During the second treatment, she tried a specific technique and I felt the muscles suddenly relax, providing a flood of relief. My life went back to normal in an instant. I finished my university degree and pursued a career with non-profits, growing the portfolios and budgets of a few amazing charities for over a decade. As time went on, I became interested in a career change that would provide the opportunity for front-line service in a helping profession. I looked into several career paths during that period and continued to come back to massage therapy. I finally applied and was accepted. When I started massage therapy school in January 2021, the world was a very different place. The pandemic limited human contact of all types, including therapeutic. Many of the local RMT training schools had shut down for a time, with the one I happened to apply to making the rapid changes that allowed them to keep running throughout the entire pandemic. As the world began to move away from lockdowns, the waitlists to see an RMT skyrocketed. Out of curiosity, I called several clinics in different cities and discovered that some municipalities had such a shortage of RMTs that new patients were told that it would be 6 months before they could be matched with a massage therapist. I couldn’t imagine what would have happened if my college-days injury had occurred a decade later and my life had to be put on hold for 6 months. As I look to the future, I am thankful to have the opportunity to be involved in a career where I can make a difference right here, in my own community.