{"id":1701,"date":"2025-10-30T19:02:54","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T19:02:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shp.rutgers.edu\/annual-report\/?page_id=1701"},"modified":"2025-12-08T17:05:43","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T17:05:43","slug":"maekenzi-dixon-on-finding-her-voice","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/shp.rutgers.edu\/community-impact-report\/maekenzi-dixon-on-finding-her-voice\/","title":{"rendered":"MAEKENZI DIXON ON FINDING HER VOICE"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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MaeKenzi Dixon on Finding Her Voice<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t
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When MaeKenzi Dixon stepped to the microphone to address the Rutgers School of Health Professions Class of 2025 as student convocation speaker, she knew well the power and importance of using her voice.<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Dixon fell in love with the field of physical therapy after taking an introductory course in high school, but she wasn\u2019t always convinced it was for her. She was overwhelmed by anxiety and fear even before orientation over whether she belonged. Her uncertainty was compounded by a noticeable shortage of women in the field who looked like her.<\/p>

Now, having joined the roughly two percent of Doctor of Physical Therapy graduates who are African American women, she is proud to serve as an example for future students. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u201cThis is more than a personal milestone. It\u2019s a reminder that representation matters, especially where we\u2019re overlooked.\u201d<\/p>

\u2014MaeKenzi Dixon, Class of 2025<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t

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In her speech to the Class of 2025, Dixon spoke to the responsibility she and her classmates hold as future health care providers. She shared her own experience of finding her voice as a provider during a clinical rotation on Navajo Nation in Arizona.<\/p>

While working with a therapy-resistant patient, Dixon visited the home and found that the patient was struggling in silence with challenges that the resources being provided couldn\u2019t address.<\/p>

By speaking up and advocating for modifications to make the home more accessible, Dixon improved the patient\u2019s ability to care for herself.<\/p>

\u201cHealth care doesn\u2019t always start with a diagnosis,\u201d said Dixon. \u201cSometimes it starts with listening, showing up, seeing people and advocating for them when they can\u2019t do it for themselves.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MaeKenzi Dixon on Finding Her Voice When MaeKenzi Dixon stepped to the microphone to address the Rutgers School of Health Professions Class of 2025 as student convocation speaker, she knew<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"elementor_header_footer","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1701","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shp.rutgers.edu\/community-impact-report\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shp.rutgers.edu\/community-impact-report\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shp.rutgers.edu\/community-impact-report\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shp.rutgers.edu\/community-impact-report\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shp.rutgers.edu\/community-impact-report\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1701"}],"version-history":[{"count":49,"href":"https:\/\/shp.rutgers.edu\/community-impact-report\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1701\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4154,"href":"https:\/\/shp.rutgers.edu\/community-impact-report\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1701\/revisions\/4154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shp.rutgers.edu\/community-impact-report\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}