{"id":36312,"date":"2026-01-29T12:05:42","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T17:05:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/healthsciences\/?p=36312"},"modified":"2026-02-05T14:53:37","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T19:53:37","slug":"student-spotlight-from-military-service-to-bridging-communication-in-physical-therapy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/healthsciences\/2026\/01\/student-spotlight-from-military-service-to-bridging-communication-in-physical-therapy\/","title":{"rendered":"Student Spotlight: From Military Service to Bridging Communication in Physical Therapy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lee esta historia en espa\u00f1ol. | Read this story in Spanish.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cTo ju<\/span>st be able to communicate with somebody\u00a0<\/span>in\u00a0your\u00a0language<\/span><\/b>\u00a0is so important.\u201d\u00a0-Sergio Martinez<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Sergio<\/span>Sergio Martinez is one of the 37 students in the Doctor of Physical Therapy Class of\u00a02028\u00a0at\u00a0UNC Chapel Hill. As a\u00a0retired U.S. Army veteran, first-generation college student, and multilingual advocate, Martinez brings more than two decades of service and a lifelong commitment to communication into his pursuit of physical therapy. Throughout his life, language has been more than a skill\u2014it has been a bridge to connection, care, and community.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Martinez\u2019s parents\u00a0came to the\u00a0Los Angeles, California\u00a0from Mexico in the late 1970s.\u00a0When Martinez was born, his parents\u00a0were\u00a0living\u00a0in a small, cramped apartment, which they later moved from.\u00a0Growing up\u00a0in a Spanish-speaking household,\u00a0led to\u00a0Martinez to\u00a0being\u00a0enrolled as an\u00a0ESL (English as a\u00a0Second\u00a0Language) student\u00a0in elementary school.\u00a0By the\u00a0fourth\u00a0grade, however,\u00a0he was excelling\u00a0academically.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

By early high school,\u00a0Martinez knew he wanted to\u00a0pursue a career in the military.\u00a0During his senior year,\u00a0he enlisted in the\u00a0U.S. Army.\u00a0Originally,\u00a0he\u00a0hoped to become\u00a0a linguist, but the\u00a0position\u00a0was only\u00a0available for\u00a0reservists.\u00a0In order\u00a0to\u00a0serve full-time on active duty, Martinez\u00a0joined as a communications\u00a0specialist\u00a0for\u00a0the\u00a0first three and a half years of his\u00a0career,\u00a0until he was\u00a0given\u00a0the opportunity to change career paths.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Martinez\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0want to give up his dream of using his language\u00a0skills,\u00a0“I<\/span>\u00a0basically begged\u00a0them to use me in my language\u00a0skills,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u201cThey said,\u00a0\u2018Well, how do you feel about learning a language?\u2019\u00a0And I said\u00a0\u2018I think that would be awesome. I would love to learn a new language.\u2019\u201d\u00a0At\u00a0that time,\u00a0the\u00a0Army\u00a0needed Arabic, Chinese, and Korean linguists;\u00a0Martinez\u00a0chose\u00a0Korean. That decision led\u00a0him to\u00a0attend\u00a0a\u00a063-week\u00a0<\/span>language program at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California. Despite learning a language entirely foreign to him\u2014from the alphabet to grammatical structure\u2014Martinez completed the program and became a Korean linguist, a testament to his perseverance and resilience.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Martinez\u00a0served\u00a0a total of 20 years in the\u00a0U.S Army, spending\u00a0time in the\u00a0Middle\u00a0East, Arizona,\u00a0Colorado, and eventually\u00a0North Carolina, where he completed his final assignment with special operations in 2016.\u00a0In 2021, Martinez\u00a0officially\u00a0retired\u00a0from the Army.\u00a0<\/span>During his time in North Carolina, he met his wife, and they have since settled in Fuquay-Varina with their two children.<\/span><\/p>\n

Martinez\u2019s path to physical therapy was shaped\u00a0largely by\u00a0his own experiences as a patient. Like many service members, he sustained multiple injuries over the course of his career. Beginning in his early twenties, he developed chronic lumbar spine issues that\u00a0required\u00a0years of physical therapy. Through consistent treatment, Martinez not only recovered physically but was\u00a0also\u00a0able to sustain the second half of his military career\u2014transitioning into leadership roles while\u00a0remaining\u00a0capable of keeping up with the soldiers he led.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u00a0don’t think I would have made it 20 years without\u00a0people helping\u00a0me along the way…,\u00a0with\u00a0physical therapy being one of the aspects that I attribute to my longevity<\/span>,\u201d\u00a0said\u00a0Martinez.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As he approached retirement, Martinez began considering a second career in healthcare. With a family background rooted in medicine\u2014his father served as a medic in the Mexican Army, his mother worked as a dental assistant, and his wife practices as a nurse practitioner\u2014healthcare felt both familiar and meaningful. While he briefly considered becoming a physician assistant, physical therapy stood out as the\u00a0path\u00a0most aligned with his values and experiences.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Growing up in a Spanish-speaking household, Martinez knew he wanted to be the bridge between underserved communities and accessible, high-quality healthcare\u2014particularly for Spanish-speaking patients who often face language and knowledge barriers when seeking care. Reflecting on his childhood, Martinez shared, \u201cGrowing up, I was\u00a0a very sick\u00a0kid, and I remember my mom being stressed out about it because we\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0have a lot of money or resources. But the one thing we did have was a pediatrician who spoke Spanish, and that was a huge deal to us.\u201d Knowing firsthand the impact of being understood, Martinez hopes to one day be that person for someone else.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Now a student in UNC\u2019s highly ranked Doctor of Physical Therapy program, Martinez views his acceptance into the Class of 2028 as a moment of validation. Out of hundreds of applicants, being selected as one of 37\u00a0students\u00a0affirmed that his years of service, preparation, and perseverance mattered. As a first-generation college student, Martinez carries that responsibility with pride\u2014not only for himself, but for his parents and children. He hopes his journey models a lifelong commitment to service, learning, and giving back.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lee esta historia en espa\u00f1ol. | Read this story in Spanish. \u201cTo just be able to communicate with somebody\u00a0in\u00a0your\u00a0language\u00a0is so important.\u201d\u00a0-Sergio Martinez Sergio Martinez is one of the 37 students in the Doctor of Physical Therapy Class of\u00a02028\u00a0at\u00a0UNC Chapel Hill. As a\u00a0retired U.S. Army veteran, first-generation college student, and multilingual advocate, Martinez brings more than … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123228,"featured_media":36316,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"layout":"","cellInformation":"","apiCallInformation":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4,84],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-pt","odd"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nStudent Spotlight: From Military Service to Bridging Communication in Physical Therapy | Department of Health Sciences<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/healthsciences\/2026\/01\/student-spotlight-from-military-service-to-bridging-communication-in-physical-therapy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Student Spotlight: From Military Service to Bridging Communication in Physical Therapy | Department of Health Sciences\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lee esta historia en espa\u00f1ol. | Read this story in Spanish. \u201cTo just be able to communicate with somebody\u00a0in\u00a0your\u00a0language\u00a0is so important.\u201d\u00a0-Sergio Martinez Sergio Martinez is one of the 37 students in the Doctor of Physical Therapy Class of\u00a02028\u00a0at\u00a0UNC Chapel Hill. As a\u00a0retired U.S. Army veteran, first-generation college student, and multilingual advocate, Martinez brings more than … Read more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/healthsciences\/2026\/01\/student-spotlight-from-military-service-to-bridging-communication-in-physical-therapy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Department of Health Sciences\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UNCHealthSciences\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-29T17:05:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-05T19:53:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/healthsciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/628\/2026\/01\/Sergio-Martinez-scaled-e1769707644208.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1856\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1903\" \/>\n\t<meta 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