According to a poll taken in Fall of 2014, 243 students at Cerritos College claimed their declared major was kinesiology.

Dean of Instructional Effectiveness Research Planning, Kristi Blackburn said that a new poll is in the works.

Kinesiology is the scientific study of human or non-human body movement. It also addresses physiological, biochemical, and psychological mechanisms.

Dean of Health Education, Dance and Athletics Dr. Dan Smith feels that number is telling of all the story.

“That is a lower number than it actually is. A lot of our students wait until they are ready to declare before choosing a major. Problem is, if they don’t declare they are not listed as kinesiology majors,” he explained.

According to Smith there is a plethora of lucrative jobs in the field of kinesiology simply because it is such a broad topic.

“A lot of people want a kinesiology degree and then apply to physical therapy school that’s a very common route. Different types of people get into medical fields and of course the traditional physical education or health education fields,” he said.

According to Smith, he does not feel that many athletes are majoring in kinesiology.

“I don’t think we have all that many athletes majoring in kinesiology, in fact I’m kind of surprised there aren’t more,” Smith said.

Kinesiology major Veronica McCaughan feels differently, being a former player herself.

“I think because in sports you have to understand your body so if you’re taking a lot of these classes you learn more about what you’re doing and how you’re doing it,” she said.

With her playing days behind her McCaughan turned her attention toward athletic training.

She feels as though every athletic trainer’s dream job is the same.

“Working for a professional team I think is every athletic trainer’s goal,” she admitted.

McCaughan was first introduced to kinesiology at a young age yet she did not know she was being introduced to it but she has received extensive help on campus from the athletic trainers.

“Brian [Cable] and Maria [Castro] help so much. They really do help you and guide you. They push you, tell you what you need and help you through it,” she said.

The college offers a multitude of different classes in order for a student to earn his or her degree.

Smith said, “Our classes are as good as any university’s, if not better. A lot of our people are in our athletic trainers aid certificate program they may also be trying to get their degree in kinesiology and get their ADT. And what they want is to transfer into one of the good athletic training [universities].”

It’s more than just kinesiology related classes at Cerritos College, students interested in the field also have a chance to learn on the job under professional athletic trainers Brian Cable and Maria Castro.

With the Cerritos College kinesiology program continuing to grow other schools are starting to take notice.

Smith said, “I just had a chair of San Bernardino tell me the other day, that one of our classes is a very strong class and he thinks so much of it that it’s a upper division class at his school. Typically, four-year universities are not going to accept one of our classes as an upper division in fact it can’t transfer.

“He said he felt so strongly about it that he did what is called a substitution. He substituted one of our classes for one of their classes there.”