University of North Carolina Athletics
Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati
Helping People: Ramsey’s Passion for Occupational Therapy
June 27, 2018 | Softball
CHAPEL HILL – Rising senior Kiani Ramsey joined the Carolina Softball team in the 2017 season as a transfer student-athlete from Texas Tech, and she quickly made her presence known on the team as an anchor in center field and at the plate.
The outfielder led the Tar Heels with a .374 batting average, earning NFCA All-Southeast Region and All-ACC second-team honors. However, her success extends past the softball field, recently being named to the ACC All-Academic Softball Team.
Growing up, softball and her academics came natural to Ramsey. She hit .612 throughout her prep career at Gregory-Portland High School while also excelling in the classroom. Starting all but two games during her time at Texas Tech, Ramsey was named to the All-Big 12 academic team twice, earing CoSIDA Academic All-District honors as a sophomore.
"Whatever I wanted to do, my parents just wanted me to be my best at it," Ramsey said. "My parents have always told me to go and get a good education and if you're going to play a sport, be the best you can be. All I have to do is go out and try my hardest."
With her father as a paramedic, Ramsey was brought up around the medical field – but she knew that path wasn't for her. When learning science in school, Ramsey's father was always there to help her study.
"I wouldn't want to be a paramedic because of the stories he would tell me," Ramsey said. "I wouldn't be able to do deal with that, but I still want to be able to help people."
For Ramsey, her ability to help others in the future would be through studying a different type of science thanks to her father's guidance in school.
"The way my dad explained things as far as science and anatomy and helped me study for tests, I loved it," Ramsey said. "I was able to retain the information. It was so interesting and I won't forget. I think in a way it was a pretty big influence on my path."
The time studying and learning with her father shaped her path of science and softball, leading Ramsey to pursue occupational therapy. Upon graduating from Carolina next year, Ramsey has her sight set on occupational therapy school which generally requires the Graduate Record Examinations or GRE and observation hours.
"I've already started getting my observation hours," Ramsey said. "Most OT (occupational therapy) programs require a minimum number of observation hours to apply. One school I'm applying to requires 40 and I'm close to completing them."
Ramsey spent her first month of summer at two occupational therapy clinics to learn more about the profession and cross off more observation hours. The first clinic was with kids in nearby Morrisville, North Carolina.
"I saw a ton of kids in my first internship," Ramsey said. "I learned that you have to be able to think on your feet and go with the flow of the children rather than your set schedule. You have to be flexible to be able to have an effective therapy session."
After completing her hours in Morrisville, Ramsey went home to Texas and interned with an occupational therapy clinic that focused on the hand. With both experiences completed for the summer, Ramsey knows occupational therapy is still in her future.
"I love working with kids so I saw myself doing more of that type of OT in my future," Ramsey said. "I learned that you have to be able to go with the flow of things. Not every exercise is going to be effective or the same for each person. While there are only so many muscles in the hand, you can be creative with the type of exercises so it's not redundant. It's tiring at times, but worth it, especially when you start to see results in people. Ultimately, it's about helping people which is what I loved."
In the meantime, Ramsey returns to Chapel Hill to continue her coursework with a summer biology lab, working toward the occupational therapy school application requirements. The Portland, Texas native is one of five seniors on the Carolina softball team all of whom are working toward earning their degrees in exercise and sport science next year.
"We can talk about different things in the weight room because a lot of us are exercise and sport science majors," Ramsey said. "If we're taking the same class or learning the same stuff, we always talk about how it relates to softball which is helpful."
Stay up to date with Carolina Softball by following the Tar Heels on Twitter and Instagram.
The outfielder led the Tar Heels with a .374 batting average, earning NFCA All-Southeast Region and All-ACC second-team honors. However, her success extends past the softball field, recently being named to the ACC All-Academic Softball Team.
Growing up, softball and her academics came natural to Ramsey. She hit .612 throughout her prep career at Gregory-Portland High School while also excelling in the classroom. Starting all but two games during her time at Texas Tech, Ramsey was named to the All-Big 12 academic team twice, earing CoSIDA Academic All-District honors as a sophomore.
"Whatever I wanted to do, my parents just wanted me to be my best at it," Ramsey said. "My parents have always told me to go and get a good education and if you're going to play a sport, be the best you can be. All I have to do is go out and try my hardest."
With her father as a paramedic, Ramsey was brought up around the medical field – but she knew that path wasn't for her. When learning science in school, Ramsey's father was always there to help her study.
"I wouldn't want to be a paramedic because of the stories he would tell me," Ramsey said. "I wouldn't be able to do deal with that, but I still want to be able to help people."
For Ramsey, her ability to help others in the future would be through studying a different type of science thanks to her father's guidance in school.
"The way my dad explained things as far as science and anatomy and helped me study for tests, I loved it," Ramsey said. "I was able to retain the information. It was so interesting and I won't forget. I think in a way it was a pretty big influence on my path."
The time studying and learning with her father shaped her path of science and softball, leading Ramsey to pursue occupational therapy. Upon graduating from Carolina next year, Ramsey has her sight set on occupational therapy school which generally requires the Graduate Record Examinations or GRE and observation hours.
"I've already started getting my observation hours," Ramsey said. "Most OT (occupational therapy) programs require a minimum number of observation hours to apply. One school I'm applying to requires 40 and I'm close to completing them."
Ramsey spent her first month of summer at two occupational therapy clinics to learn more about the profession and cross off more observation hours. The first clinic was with kids in nearby Morrisville, North Carolina.
"I saw a ton of kids in my first internship," Ramsey said. "I learned that you have to be able to think on your feet and go with the flow of the children rather than your set schedule. You have to be flexible to be able to have an effective therapy session."
After completing her hours in Morrisville, Ramsey went home to Texas and interned with an occupational therapy clinic that focused on the hand. With both experiences completed for the summer, Ramsey knows occupational therapy is still in her future.
"I love working with kids so I saw myself doing more of that type of OT in my future," Ramsey said. "I learned that you have to be able to go with the flow of things. Not every exercise is going to be effective or the same for each person. While there are only so many muscles in the hand, you can be creative with the type of exercises so it's not redundant. It's tiring at times, but worth it, especially when you start to see results in people. Ultimately, it's about helping people which is what I loved."
In the meantime, Ramsey returns to Chapel Hill to continue her coursework with a summer biology lab, working toward the occupational therapy school application requirements. The Portland, Texas native is one of five seniors on the Carolina softball team all of whom are working toward earning their degrees in exercise and sport science next year.
"We can talk about different things in the weight room because a lot of us are exercise and sport science majors," Ramsey said. "If we're taking the same class or learning the same stuff, we always talk about how it relates to softball which is helpful."
Stay up to date with Carolina Softball by following the Tar Heels on Twitter and Instagram.
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