“I started taking biology, but now following Kinesiology,” said Bale.
Bale, involved in sports from the time he could swing a bat and knock the ball of it’s tee, has taken his drive and determination to exploit opportunities that are still shaping his future.
As a junior in high school, Bale started the athletic season as a member of the South Bend Champion 2B football team, a feat that turned out to be a first in the school’s 100-year history. In the spring his work on the track and field team gave him opportunity to return to state level competition as he threw third best in discus. During his senior year, he added the shot put to his resume of ability and took another third place finish, with only one season at practice. He finished his high school year participating in the annual East vs. West All-Star football game in Yakima.
“That was great fun, the all-star game, very exciting,” Bale said.
Bale became part of the crew team as a freshman at Washington State and was selected to be part of the “engine” of the team.
“It is a 8-man crew team,” Bale said. “I sit in the four or five seat, what they call the engine of the team. That is were the power comes from. We did OK, for a club team, we did beat Gonzaga.”
But sports are not all Bale is involved in at the university, he is a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars and Honors College, currently holding a 3.8 grade point average as a sophomore this year.
Back for the holidays this past autumn; Bale started his Thanksgiving vacation looking for additional opportunities in the Twin Harbors to expand his growing college education.
“I took my vacation and went to physical therapy clinics all over the Twin Harbors,” Bale said. “I gave them my resume, told them that I was interested in shadowing, and let them know when I was available during my visit.”
His schedule soon filled up and he had little time to do much but visit family and continue his education toward attaining one of his possible goals.
“I am getting more involved in the study of human kinetics or kinesiology and have become a personal trainer at school,” Bale said. “Shadowing with physical therapist allows me more opportunity to understand the field. I also scrubbed in with Dr. Greg May from the Harbor Orthopedic Fracture Clinic in Aberdeen. The reason is because most all of his patients will be going into physical therapy and it gives me a better understanding of what the patient goes through and how much pain they are experiencing.”
With his quick holiday, Bale is back in Pullman running his daily schedule of early morning training of the school rugby team, class and night training for the school’s ski team, finishing late in the evening.
“I became a personal trainer at the University Recreational Center,” Bale said. “I train individual athletes as well as University club teams. One other trainer and I started training around forty people. I work with the school rugby team and ski team. At 6 a.m. I start with the rugby team, ride my bike in for breakfast, bike to class, back and forth from the Rec. Center and end the day working with the skiing team, finishing at 10 p.m.”
The personal training has provided more then a platform to highlight his skills, it has turned into a lucrative practice that is allowing Bale to help pay for his education as well.
“I would eventually like to be a physical therapist, and I can get there after three more years at WSU gaining my bachelors, and on for doctorate, but will have to attend another school for that,” Bale added.
Bale looks to work his way into assisting with the University varsity teams, working the sidelines, traveling and caring for the athletes as he continues at Washington. With a full load, it may be one of his other classes that have presented him yet another opportunity. Peaking the interest of his political science professor, Bale may be looking at international travel before he finishes his junior year.
“My professor liked what I had written in one of my essays in Poli Sci, and asked me what I was looking to do in the future,” Bale said. “The conversation may have turned into an opportunity to work with a physical therapist in Guatemala working with children in rehabilitation.”
Not exactly sure yet what he might be getting into, his mastery of Spanish will be helpful, one of the other things he has pick-up on the way.
“The professor had spent a lot of time in Guatemala, knows a few people, and is working to help me go during the spring or summer break,” Bale said. 'If it is in the spring it will only be like a week, but if in the summer it may be as long as a couple of months. I hope that it will provide me a better insight and diversity and provide a look at different cultures. It will also be like a Spanish immersion experience for me. I have no idea the conditions or where I will be working either in a clinic environment or in the field. But I will be providing basic functional movements in hopes that the children can grow up healthy and strong.”