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Spotlights » Stephen Leppard, '00
Stephen Leppard, '00, arrived at Grand Valley in the fall of 1997, after receiving a Bachelors degree in Biology from Albion College. As a graduate student Leppard lived downtown during his three years of working on a Masters of Science in Physical Therapy, spending much of his time in the labs and his clinical rotations. He developed close relationships with professors Dan Vaughn and Barb Hoogenboom, crediting them both for their positive impact on students. In addition to close contacts and mentorships he formed with professors, he also met his wife of 4 1/2 years Ryane (Eno) Leppard, '98, '01 at Grand Valley. She too is a physical therapist in Kalamazoo.
Graduating in April of 2000 he started his career as a Physical Therapist in Chicago. A native of the Plainwell area, he has been back in the Kalamazoo area for the past seven years and is currently the Assistant Clinic Director at Physiotherapy Associates. Part of his role is to coordinate physical therapy student rotations for the eleven Physiotherapy Associates clinics in the Kalamazoo area. Currently, he has two first year and two third year GVSU PT students working at his location.
Leppard stays connected with Grand Valley in various ways; his favorite is mentoring students. He occasionally returns for the Doctorate of Physical Therapy research day as a way of supporting peers and to listen to the latest evidence based research. Leppard maintains connections with professor Dan Vaughn and also takes students for internships at his practice.
Though his educational path seems prudent and reasonably traditional, Leppard is in no way complacent. A seeker of change and adventure, he works to make an impact in life, constantly striving for meaningful experiences. In the summer of 2008 he organized a fundraiser titled "Padding for Josh." Raising money for a patient of Leopard's who has cerebral palsy, participants raced in the 61st Annual Au Sable Canoe Marathon, a 120 mile overnight canoe race from Grayling to Lake Huron that took over 17 hours. Recognized for his selfless efforts, he was nominated by the Kalamazoo Rotary for a vocational exchange hosted by Rotary International. Each local Rotary group could nominate one young person, between the ages of 25 and 40 years that has been in their profession for over two years and has had a profound impact on the community. Stephen was selected as that one person for the Kalamazoo community. Out of 100 nominees in the state, and through a selection process including written essays and interviews, he was chosen as one of four outstanding individuals to represent the State of Michigan. Beyond that, out of a group of physical therapists, teachers and other accomplished individuals, he was the only physical therapist of the group.
His exchange counterparts were a High School Spanish teacher, a freelance journalist and a consultant working with nonprofit organizations. Each was an ambassador for the State, and for their respective professions. There for the entire month of April 2009 the journey consisted of vocational visits in five different cities in Argentina. Rotary groups from each town would greet them at the airport and escort them to their town and residence for the week. At each rotation they stayed with host families and were accompanied by team leaders. One of the primary goals of the voyage is true cultural immersion. He joined his host families on museum trips, at local art fairs and to a Boca Juniors Futbol (soccer). Whatever was happening in the area, he was there with the family, eating local cuisine and assimilating as best he could. The exchange participants would break apart in the towns for their personalized vocation visits. One of his more memorable experiences was spending a day with the Physical Therapist responsible for training Velez Sarsfield, a professional soccer team. For Leppard, this was an opportunity to see high level physical therapy for a professional sports team that could be compared to the Bears, or Red Sox in the United States, and seeing the treatment for the teams was unique to observe similarities in physical therapy from one area to another. While their therapy was 10 years behind ours in evidenced based practices, and more mobility based, it was still good treatment," says Leppard.
Ultimately, for Leppard the trip was hard to summarize. The people in Argentina were so very warm, welcoming, and gernerous. What felt like six weeks in each city was actually only six days. As a sports fan and former soccer player, the highlight of his trip was seeing a Boca Junior soccer match. This renowned Argentinean soccer team (on the scope of the New York Yankees) had game attendance of 50,000 people, and the experience, for Leppard, was beyond words. Overall, however, what Leppard learned is that "so often people get stuck in a rut, doing the same thing day after day. Life goes fast. I encourage people to step out of their comfort zone and do something that challenges them. It makes life richer," says Leppard.
Reflecting on how his educational experience at Grand Valley prepared him for his career, and for this trip, Leppard proudly shared that " the PT program is regarded as one of the elite physical therapy programs in the State of Michigan so when I went on a clinical in Michigan, they knew I would be well prepared. The educational background prepared you well to be a leader, and a community member not only at physical therapy, but as a person in your community."
Added June 2009
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