Inspired by Experience, Driven by Purpose: Meet Rizing Tide Scholar Faith Blanchard-Ludanga

This is the second installment of the 2023 Rizing Tide Lighthouse Series: a series of blogs and video interviews that spotlight our exceptional scholars. Stay tuned for the next installment!

Faith Blanchard-Ludanga, a dedicated student at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, is on a mission to bring healing and hope to her community through physical therapy. For Faith, obtaining a Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree is more than just an academic achievement; it’s a calling to serve and uplift those around her.

“Getting into college and obtaining my DPT means an opportunity to be able to help within my community,” Faith says. Her commitment to making a difference is deeply rooted in personal experience and watching her loved ones grapple with immense challenges. Her mother’s triumph over hardship, for instance, inspired Faith to pursue a physical therapy degree. “My mom is a disabled veteran,” Faith says, “And she has had chronic back pain since I can remember. My senior year in high school, it got so bad that she couldn’t stand up for more than five minutes.” The turning point came when Faith’s mother was prescribed physical therapy. Treatment finally brought a glimmer of hope back to her mother—and Faith never forgot that moment. To this day, that memory fuels Faith’s desire to pursue a career where she can bring similar relief to others.

Faith was also inspired to pursue physical therapy when she traveled overseas and witnessed the loss of lives due to a lack of medical resources. “I have this opportunity; I’ve been accepted into physical therapy school,” Faith says. “I have the capacity, I’ve been blessed with a brain that can take in all of this information. So what was I going to do about it? So that’s what really encouraged me and challenged me to jump into physical therapy school.”

When choosing where to pursue her DPT, Faith found a perfect fit at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. “One of my main criteria when choosing schools—even when I was in college—was feeling like I could be a human there,” Faith says. The supportive and understanding environment at UTHSC has allowed her to balance the demands of being a student and a mother. Faith’s professors have gone above and beyond, sometimes even holding her son during classes when daycare was unavailable.

One lesson that resonated with Faith during her studies was the importance of continuous learning. “One lesson that has stuck with me was one comment that one of my professors made: there’s a difference between practicing and having a skillset.” This insight became clear during her clinical rotations, where she learned the value of being a lifelong learner and building a network of mentors and colleagues in the field. “For the duration of my career, I’m going to be a student, and I won’t learn everything in the three years that I need to know if I really want to be an excellent practitioner,” Faith says. 

Looking ahead, Faith is passionate about specializing in pediatrics and pelvic health. Her love for children and personal experience with pelvic health therapy after childbirth have guided her interests. “I love babies. I just love children. I’ve worked with children in several capacities, and I have my own,” Faith says. She also emphasizes the importance of addressing postpartum pain and discomfort, recognizing that it doesn’t have to be an inevitable part of motherhood.

Faith’s journey took a significant turn when she learned about the Rizing Tide scholarship program through an email from her director. Encouraged by the mission and vision of Rizing Tide, she applied and was accepted as a scholar. Her advice to future applicants is straightforward: “Just be yourself. Look through the website and see if the vision of Rizing Tide is something you really want to be a part of.”

As a Rizing Tide scholar, Faith is most excited about participating in a supportive community. “I look forward to seeing the amazing people in Rizing Tide come alongside me in my journey and help me to be as beneficial as possible to my community,” Faith says.