APTA's 2015 class of Emerging Leaders set high goals for themselves and the profession.

The world is full of amazing opportunities—but you have to recognize them when they come your way, and be ready and willing to jump when those chances arise.

That's the message from Jack Knudson-Stuhr, PTA, a physical therapist assistant at Gundersen Health System Sports Medicine Physical Therapy in Onalaska, Wisconsin. He was nearly 2 years into a career in landscape architecture when he had a revelation. "I didn't want to sit behind a desk and draw for my entire life," he says. "I loved the work but didn't feel as if I really was making a difference."

He began exploring other options, and in 2006 he enrolled in a PTA education program. "I thought I'd start there and maybe go on to become a PT, but the more I talked to others in the profession," he recalls, "the more I realized this is where I belong." Knudson-Stuhr spends his days at Gundersen working 1-on-1 with patients—and that's exactly the way he likes it.