Emma Kalinowski stands outside Teachers-Dyer Complex

Working out worked out for UC student Emma Kalinowski

The UC Exercise Science major found her passion and career path through fitness

By Rodney Wilson Email Rodney

7 minute read May 5, 2025

When Emma Kalinowski made her way to college from northeast Ohio, she knew where she wanted to be – the University of Cincinnati, which she describes as a smaller school in a big city, was her top choice. What she wanted to be, though, took a little bit of figuring out.

“I switched my major a few times, actually,” says Kalinowski. “Once before I even came to campus.” Kalinowski initially applied and was accepted to a fashion marketing program in the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP). Right before freshman classes started, though, she changed to a business program that she quickly surmised wasn’t right for her.

During this time of uncertainty, she found solace in fitness, heading to the campus recreation center to take up exercise, a new interest that quickly grew into a passion. “I started hitting the gym a lot,” she explains. “I was heavily involved and working out every day, and I was learning more about it.”

When a friend shared their discovery of the School of Human Services’ Exercise Science program, Kalinowski wanted to learn more about this area of study, which engaged her new interest for fitness … and just maybe could serve as the major she sought. “I was like hmm, that seems interesting. So I looked at the curriculum and thought, yeah, I'm going to go for it.”

Fitness was the right fit

Upon acceptance as an Exercise Science major, she immediately took to the program, enmeshing herself in the College of Education, Criminal Justice, Human Services, and Information Technology (CECH) in various ways. “I when I joined my sophomore year, I had a class with one of our professors, Dr. Julia Buchanan, and she talked about a job opening for a student representative to work at the Human Services office.”

Emma Kalinowski gives one of a few student presentations at the inaugural UC Exercise Science Expo. Photo provided by CECH Marketing

Not only did she get the position, but Kalinowski was soon after approached again by Buchanan about another opportunity, this time to join the executive team of the then-new Bearcats Exercise Science Alliance (BESA) student organization. “She gave me options of what I could be – like, president, vice president, etc.,” she says. “So I said, you know what, let's just jump right in. I’ll be president.”

She served in this leadership role through her junior and senior years, during which time BESA representatives attended numerous conferences, including February’s OSU Midwest Fit Fest in Columbus. And in late May, five students and three faculty members from UC will represent BESA at the ACSM Annual Meeting. “I'm pretty proud that we were able to do two conferences in just one semester,” she says.

Under Kalinowski’s leadership, BESA also brought in special guest speakers, such as a recent visit from a Cincinnati Reds representative, to speak with students about internship opportunities and offer career advice. The organization also helps members get CPR, first aid and AED certification for discounted rates, as well as hosts tours of interest for members.

Additionally, Kalinowski played a key role in last year’s inaugural UC Exercise Science Expo –established as a means to connect students with industry leaders, community partners and recent alumni for a day of networking, speakers, an internship/job showcase and more – where she was one of only three student presenters.

She also helped with planning and served as a volunteer for event proceedings. Kalinowski returned to help with the 2025 Exercise Science Expo, too, which took place in Tangeman University Center on Friday, April 4, as a member of two chair committees (Conference Proposals and Programs, Logistics) and, again, as a volunteer at the expo.

An invaluable internship

Internships and co-ops, of course, represent a critical component of a UC education – the university invented cooperative education more than a century ago and is ranked fifth in the nation for co-ops and internships by U.S. News. So it would make sense that a senior-year internship experience, as a Cardiac Rehabilitation and Exercise Physiology unit intern at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, plays a central role in Kalinowski’s college story.

In this internship she was able to apply exercise science knowledge to a wide variety of medical tasks, including assisting with cycle and treadmill maximal oxygen consumption testing on pediatric and adult patients with congenital heart defects. She also aided in individual exercise sessions and assisted in initial program evaluation, electrocardiogram testing, administering stress echoes, testing resting spirometry and performing 6-minute walk tests.

“I loved that experience. The mentors there and the exercise physiologist made the internship so great."

Emma Kalinowski UC Exercise Science student

"They helped every step of the way and gave every experience they could to help you step in and learn it yourself.” She says her favorite internship experience was learning to take blood pressure readings while patients rode an exercise bike, which she shares is a lot harder than it might sound.

“A 7-year-old had to have a heart transplant, and it was interesting to see how they acted before and after. Their personality just blooms after they get a heart transplant,” she says. “Our youngest patient was a 5-year-old, and then you could have like a 40-year-old and everything in between.”

Kalinowski says that, though she had some interest in the possibility of a career in pediatric exercise physiology before the internship, it didn’t take long for that soft interest to turn into a solid plan. “Like my second or third day of the internship, I was basically like, yeah, I'm set on this,” she says. “This is what I want to do.”

As of this writing, Kalinowski is days away from graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science, but her time as a UC student isn’t over just yet. Because a graduate degree is required to do the kind of pediatric work she's drawn to, she’ll be back at UC in fall to start work on an M.S. in Exercise and Sport Science. She’s receiving a graduate assistantship with the Exercise Science program as well.

Looking back on her undergraduate experience, Kalinowski is grateful she was able to find a program – even if it took a bit of trial and error – that provided such a formative experience.

“The Exercise Science program has just impacted me in so many ways.”

Excellence in Exercise Science

Emma Kalinowski took full advantage of her University of Cincinnati experience as an especially engaged student of CECH’s Exercise Science program. Here are some experiences she’s noted as important to her undergraduate career.

President of student organization Bearcats Exercise Science Alliance (2 years)
Founding volunteer and committee member of the UC Exercise Science Expo
Served as student representative for the newly formed Exercise Science Advisory committee
Involved in two faculty interviews for the Exercise Science program
Nominated for an Intern Excellence award
Received the Doctor Bradley Wilson Exercise Physiologist Excellence Award
Attended six conferences in two years
Presented a poster ("Use of Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing and 6-Minute Walk Test in a Pediatric Orthotopic Heart Transplant Patient Cardiac Rehabilitation") at the 2025 Cincinnati Children's Combined Echocardiography and Exercise Symposium

Featured image at top: UC Exercise Science major Emma Kalinowski poses outside of Teachers-Dyer Complex. Photo by Daniel Johnson, CECH Marketing

Next Lives Here

The School of Human Services, located in the College of Education, Criminal Justice, Human Services, and Information Technology, is a dynamic and innovative program committed to excellence in raising the next generation of industry professionals. The School of Human Services offers a range of certificates, undergraduate, master's and doctoral programs to prepare students for their futures in the field of health and wellness.