Alumni of UNCG’s Department of Community and Therapeutic Recreation have found their way in a variety of careers that enhance communities, from working in non-profits to planning events, teaching, or improving a person’s quality of life.
Finding a Passion in the Non-Profit Sector
“I transferred to UNCG as a sophomore and was a sociology major,” Majors said. “They lost my paperwork and Dr. (James) Sellers found me in distress. He got me in leisure services to get going in classes, and that’s how I got interested in the program.”
She graduated in 1994 with a bachelor’s degree in Leisure Services Management, and earned her master’s degree in 2000 from the Department of Recreation, Parks and Tourism.
“UNCG provided me the opportunity to have experiences in government and cities. I did an internship at what is now the Sheraton at the Greensboro Convention Center, and I learned I didn’t want to do that (for-profit field),” Majors said. “The hands-on experiences were very important.”
She worked with Charlotte-Mecklenburg upon graduation, before being hired by the city of Winston-Salem.
“I opened Sedge Garden (Community Center),” Majors said. “While there I also volunteered with the Red Cross, where I coordinated youth leadership programs in North and South Carolina. It turned into a full-time position in 1999. I found I loved non-profits and working with youth associations.”
A few years later, when she was 29 years old, Majors was hired at the YWCA High Point as the executive director, a position she loves.
“Helping people has always been a desire of mine, whether it was working with seniors at Sedge Garden, or youth leadership, first aid, or at the YW, empowering women and eliminating racism,” Majors said. “I was raised by a single mom, and she taught me to advocate for myself.”
During her tenure with the YWCA, Majors has helped the High Point organization grow from about 300 members to more than 1,400 members. It’s also served 8,200 people in the last year through its aquatic center, teaching kitchen, parents as teachers program, and more.
“When I started our budget was $350,000. Now it’s just under $2 million. We’ve grown from a staff of 10 to 63,” she said. “Everyone collectively here has made it happen.”
Majors also oversaw the recent renovation of the 1959 facility, to have it better meet the needs of the programs, as well as being more accessible and safer.
“The (UNCG community and therapeutic recreation) program assisted me with having great professors, great interns that are here at the YW, and having great mentors. My professors were sounding boards, mentors, and references,” she said.
Starting Your Own Business
2010 alumna Laura Kelly became interested in recreational therapy as an undergrad in after her father had a stroke.
“One of my basketball teammates asked if he had a recreational therapist, and he didn’t,” she said.
Kelly became interested in what that career entails, and graduated from Shepherd University with a concentration in the field. She went on to UNCG and earned her master’s degree in 2010 in Parks and Recreation Management, with an emphasis in therapeutic recreation.
“UNCG’s program impressed me with its research and dedication to students,” she said. “It was so involved in the community, state, and region. The faculty asked you, ‘How can you impact these areas?’ It helped me understand things better on a professional level.”
Kelly described recreational therapy as the field that gives clients the ability to get their life back.
“Recreational therapy shows there’s still a lot of life and things you can do (after a diagnosis), and we help them do them,” Kelly said. “It’s a powerful thing to give back quality of life. This is the most rewarding job.”
She points to her own father, who has since passed away, as an example.
“My dad had a traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury from a fall,” Kelly said. “Along his health care journey, I’m grateful to know how to help him stretch. I took him fishing, we played music, and I contributed to his quality of life. His acuity at the end was one of the highest I’ve seen.”
Kelly began her career at a skilled nursing facility in Marietta, Ga., where she convinced the company to transition her position from an activity director to recreation therapy. She worked there for nearly eight years, before being hired at a senior community center for several years.
“I realized therapeutic recreation is largely unavailable for this population. I decided to step out and start my own company,” she said. “I got a contract with a clinical health hospital, and we focus on recreation memory programming, aquatic programming, referrals from physical therapists and occupational therapists who see the value to our services.”
To boost the visibility of not only her own company, Empower Recreational Therapy, but the field as a whole, Kelly partners with non-profits, such as the Parkinson’s Foundation, to offer services for free.
“Being a recreation therapist starts on Day 1, because you have to explain to your family what the job is, then with jobs and clients you have to explain it, then you tailor the conversation to target audiences,” she said.
“Physical therapy gives you the strength to get out of bed. Occupational therapy gives you the tools to get out of bed. Recreation therapy gives you the ability and opportunity to get out of bed,” Kelly said.
Impacting Leadership
Annie Frisoli found her way at UNCG after discovering what she did not want to do. As an undergraduate student in Ohio, she thought she wanted to be in therapeutic recreation. After earning her bachelor’s degree in the field, however, she decided on a different path.
“I still wanted to stay in the profession and had family in North Carolina, so I drove around to N.C. State and Western Carolina, going to local restaurants and asking about the city and school,” Frisoli said. “I came to UNCG, and Dr. Nancy Gladwell, Dr. Stuart Schleien, and Dr. Leandra Bedini all just popped in while I was talking to the department.”
It made enough of an impression on the then-21-year-old that she applied only to UNCG’s Parks and Recreation Management master’s program, with a concentration in travel, tourism and commercial recreation.
After completing her master’s at UNCG in 2001, Frisoli worked with the Alzheimer’s Association, doing events and raising money for the organization.
“While doing that, UNCG called me and asked if I wanted to teach part-time,” she said. “I remember the second day of class, I called my mom and said, ‘I know what I want to do.’ I fell in love with it.”
Frisoli continued to teach at UNCG for a few years before teaching at UNC Wilmington for five years, and Ohio University after that.
In 2019, Frisoli moved to Arizona and started her own business, Creating Community LLC. She primarily contracts with parks and recreation organizations to assist with their needs. Frisoli also serves as a conference speaker, helping others with leadership potential, cultivating teams, and improving team and culture development.
“Being a lecturer for 20 years, I learned the ability to take content and present it back in a way for strategy,” she said. “A client may want strategic plans, or leadership development. A lot of people who do what I do may have a business degree, but I speak the language of the community and therapeutic rec world and have life knowledge.”
Frisoli has also leveraged her knowledge of the industry to write a book, “Leadership by Design.”
“I interviewed 20 parks and rec people in the book from around the United States, and one from Netherlands. I read all these leadership books, and a lot of time you see the same people quoted in them. I wanted to highlight the people in my world and share their wisdom. I wanted to get the parks and recreation knowledge out,” she said. “The chapters are short, with questions at the end, so it can be used as a tool with teams.”
Frisoli said it was important for her to write the book and quote people in the field, including UNCG’s Schleien.
“Community and therapeutic recreation are highly utilized in communities, but people don’t know about us. I’m proud to put it in a book, I think we change the world,” she said. “Our field is massive with lots of people in lots of fields.”
Frisoli said UNCG and the Department of Community and Therapeutic Recreation set her up on a path for success.
“It was a gamechanger for my career,” she said. “My master’s degree allowed me to get a seat at more tables than I realized. The network I developed through my master’s at UNCG—I needed that degree to teach. The fact that I have the master’s degree in Parks and Recreation helps me be a keynote speaker and get through the door.”
Article by Sarah Newell