![\"Rebecca](\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2016\/06\/Rebecca_HP-1024x413.jpg\")
After her time in the hospital, Kalinich continued to hear stories about issues with artificial limbs and develop her desire to design them. She was especially moved by accounts of runners whose prosthetic legs would frequently break, keeping them from being able to compete.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat just shouldn\u2019t happen,\u201d said Kalinich, who is an avid runner. \u201cThey\u2019re trying this hard to have a normal life again and that should be possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
When she returned to UMW for her senior year, she had a new focus for her studies. Luckily, though, her newfound career goal didn\u2019t leave her scrambling to change her academic course.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always wanted to be in the health sciences because I\u2019ve been around sports my whole life,\u201d said Kalinich, who already was majoring in biology. Since she was 5, she\u2019d been involved in gymnastics, soccer and diving, while her parents, who are both scientists, have influenced her to combine her passions for sports and science.<\/p>\n
With a father who worked on a military base and a grandfather who served in the Army, working with veterans was a natural fit for her first job out of college.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a good way to help them out when they return from duty,\u201d said Kalinich, whose dream job is with the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, helping veteran amputees learn to maneuver their new limbs and move on with their lives.<\/p>\n
One day, she\u2019d like to see active duty military members using prosthetic limbs that she designed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou see what military members can go through after serving our country, and I just want to help them,\u201d said Kalinich.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat better way than to use my career for their benefit.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
UMW senior finds passion in prosthetic limb design<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":319,"featured_media":19272,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"umw_cb_additional_links":[[]],"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_advisory_expires_time":"","_advisory_meta_include":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4,81],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-19271","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-show","8":"category-umw-home","9":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n