Upon entering the first class of the first day of her college career, graduation was little more than a speck of glitter on the future of Angie Webb, a senior from Salmon, Idaho.
“I just took the classes I wanted to, not the classes I necessarily needed,” Webb said. All she knew from the outset was that she wanted to be outside.
It didn’t take Webb long to know the Recreation Leadership Department would be her second home.
She enjoyed the classes and calls her professors “amazing.” Inspiration upon inspiration led Webb to a fairly specific career path when in the beginning she lacked any clue of her future major.
Webb came to school at BYU-Idaho — then Ricks College — in 1999 and attended classes for about a year and a half, then took some time off and moved to Snellville, Ga. By Summer Semester of 2002, Webb was back at work on her associate’s degree.
After another break, Webb returned in Summer Semester 2004 to finish up her bachelor’s degree. Webb plans to graduate this fall.
Even in high school, Webb had a passion for helping others. That love, paired with her love for the outdoors and activity, led her to a job at the Family Resource Center in Idaho Falls. Webb has held the job for over three years.
She took the job with an idea of where her future would lead. It has been something that has definitely reduced her stress about graduating and finding other internships, Webb said.
“Without my job, I’d be having major stress right now,” Webb said. Her current position gives her tips and leads to internships and other opportunities in her field.
Currently, Webb works as a psychology technician for the FRC. She took the job in hopes of becoming a recreational therapist in psychosocial rehabilitation.
That position requires certification she can obtain only after graduation, an event that gets closer all the time.
Webb describes psychosocial rehab as “treating people with disabilities so they can function in a more normal life.”
Now, Webb works with groups of children who have behavioral problems.
Many of them are abused and Webb integrates skills she learns in her classes and from her experience to help the children in her care.
After graduation, Webb will have the opportunity to work in a more one-on-one setting with disabled individuals, as a certified recreational therapist. and have the opportunity to take them into the community to learn.
The 23-year-old Idaho native highly recommends students finding opportunities in their prospective fields prior to graduation.
Webb came to BYU-I to learn the skills that would take her into her adult life prepared for success, and her foresight to learn on the job as well as in classes greatly eased the transition.
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