Priscilla Meza (’24 Kinesio.) was raised in a cherry orchard. Or—because it’s Washington state, tops in the nation for sweet cherry production—lots of different cherry orchards.
Her parents, migrant farmworkers from Mexico, couldn’t afford childcare. They came to the United States for the chance at what they felt would be a better life with greater opportunities—if not for themselves, then certainly for their kids.
So Meza and her younger brother, Angel, went to school, then to the orchards and fields, where they played with friends while they waited for their parents to finish working. When they were old enough, they worked in the orchards and fields too, waking before sunrise in summer to pick cherries for three dollars per bucket. And she observed farmworkers experiencing physical pain from poor posture and repetitive motion.
“I noticed how it affected many individuals tremendously,” Meza says. “But they didn’t seek medical services because they were not aware of them or did not want to treat their condition.”
Their suffering inspired her studies. “As a Mexican American individual with immigrant parents, education is seen as an open door to many opportunities,” says Meza, whose two older sisters, Brenda (’09 Socio.) and Leida (’11 Compara. Ethnic Stu., ’13 MEd), attended Washington State University. She made a goal of going to WSU, along with a second goal to help her fellow farmworkers with labor-induced injuries.
At WSU College of Education’s kinesiology program, Meza studied human movement as well as its relationship to a person’s overall health. Courses entailed anatomy and physiology, biology, biomechanics, exercise science, mindfulness, and psychology of physical activity. Her minors: strength and conditioning, plus entrepreneurship.
“I loved the opportunities that WSU has,” she says. “I feel prepared and motivated to be a professional woman in the health care industry.”
Meza also interned for the cross-country, women’s golf, women’s swim, and football teams.
“Priscilla is very positive. She was always ready to help with a positive demeanor,” says Meza’s mentor Michael Heim, director of the Migrant Education Student Access and Support, as well as the College Assistance Migrant Program.
While many kinesiology alumni become physical therapists, few have a desire to head to the Columbia Basin, to the cherry orchards, to do this work—or, in Meza’s case, back to the cherry orchards.
“As someone who is intimately familiar with farmworkers and the circumstances surrounding families and how their professional work environment affects every aspect of their life, Priscilla is ideal,” Heim says.
After spending the summer after graduation back home in Pasco working as an academic tutor at Columbia Basin College and an on-call physical therapy aide for Therapeutic Associates Physical Therapy clinic in Kennewick, she applied to—and was accepted into—multiple doctoral programs. She’s now enrolled at the University of Washington’s physical therapy doctoral program.
“I think a doctorate will help me even better educate and assist those with injuries working in the fields,” she says. “I am excited to bring all my experiences as a first-generation Hispanic woman and make an impact in my doctoral program.”
And, while she studies at UW, she says she’s always a Coug.
“I am grateful for the opportunities and connections WSU has given me to get into this next step toward my dream goals,” Meza says. “I love the Coug spirit. WSU is my home away from home.”