Photo Caption: Amber smiles broadly and holds a large python. The snake is patterned in varying shades of brown and is curled around Amber’s hands.
Many of us know Amber Steet as a dedicated member of the ACB Next Generation Fundraising Committee, and as a friendly face in the ACB NextGen Messenger Lounge. Amber has something to celebrate this graduation season: she is graduating from the Omaha School of Massage Therapy in August after over a year of hard work.
Studying massage was a natural fit for Amber because she has had a longtime interest in energy work. The instruction she has been given throughout the program has been accessible to her because she gets to practice massage alongside her peers and instructors and learn the best ways to hone her technique. Although the lesson may start out with a visual demonstration, it is quickly followed by each program participant getting hands-on work. Palpating, which is the act of feeling with the hands and fingers to examine and treat the body, is entirely nonvisual. After she graduates in August, her next step is to take the Massage and Bodywork Licensing Examination (MBLEx) so she can be certified to practice.
After she graduates and passes her exam, Amber wants to have her own business where she does massage therapy home visits. She also hopes to obtain a certification in watsu, a type of massage where the therapist massages the individual in warm water. Wherever her work takes her, she wants to stay focused on bodywork geared toward healing.
In order to graduate, a person must first find a school they want to attend, and Amber has some valuable advice to share with students looking for their perfect school. She initially applied to the massage school closest to where she was living at the time, but quickly decided to apply to other places as well. The school from which she is about to graduate is not the first school she applied to, nor is it the first school she got into, but it ended up being her first choice. She ended up moving states so she could be part of the program which best aligned with her goals. Her chosen program provides her with more experience because it requires more clinical hours, and the vibe better matched what she was looking for in a school. She learned a valuable lesson from this experience: the school you live closest to may be the best fit, but it may not be. You won’t know until you apply to other places and see how things unfold.
Outside of her commitments to school and chasing her dreams, Amber loves to read urban fantasy, military fiction, and romance novels. Her favorite Television show is The Equalizer. She also enjoys using the accessible and user-friendly app Duolingo, on which she practices German and Russian. She hopes to one day own a ball python – or perhaps more than one!
As Amber works toward her certification during the final few months of her program, she reminds us of the rewards of hard work, finding a career we love, and living out that passion. This is only the commencement of what is to come.