Master of All Trades: Recreation Grad Angela Lightner

By Jonathan Murrietta

To understand star student Angela Lightner, from the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies, it may be helpful to picture her on different TV shows. Imagine Angela popping up on the screen, guest starring in one program to the next, never staying for long, and never playing the same character twice -- but always making an impact in every program she appears in.

When Angela graduated with her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, the artsy go-getter with many passions wanted to utilize her degree in sculpture. She just didn’t know how, at first. She didn’t want to be a full-time artist, and in the meantime, she took up bartending, until figuring out what career path to take.

Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit. All the bars and restaurants had closed, and Angela needed to make a change. She first thought she would return to school to pursue art therapy.

Having settled in Rancho Palos Verdes, with her trusty Blue Heeler pet dog (Bluey to most people who watch the animated kids show), Angela set out to find a job that would marry her passions for art, helping people, and her love for the outdoors. She soon became aware of a job opening with the City of Rancho Palos Verdes for a recreation specialist.

“They were looking for people who wanted to work as rangers or potentially be on that path, and I am very outdoorsy, and thought, ‘That’s something I could do for now, while I’m working on my art therapy [degree].’ Then I got selected for a position at a random park site.”

You would probably think of Angela Lightner as on track to being a Leslie Knope, from the TV show “Parks and Recreation.” In this case, Rancho Palos Verdes Parks and Rec wanted to start a recreation therapy program and chose Angela Lightner as their star recreation leader.

“I was super passionate about it, and I started implementing art with the participants and then I was made the program coordinator because everyone saw how passionate I was about it.”

One of Angela’s coworkers was a CSULB student studying recreation therapy, and told Angela she should pursue a career as a rec therapist, seeing how naturally she took to her new role.

“I thought that made more sense because I could do the art thing with people under the rec therapy realm; but I am also athletic, enjoy traveling and exploring, and so it all kind of seamlessly came together.”

Angela enrolled at CSULB to obtain a Post-Bac in Recreation Therapy certificate. She also soon realized that many of her post-bac classes counted for the Master of Science degree in Recreation Administration. Having finished her post-bac this past December, Angela is now already walking this spring, master’s degree in tow.

“I really got to know a lot of my professors through the Post-Bac program and then in the master’s program,” Angela said. “The professors in Recreation and Leisure Studies really care about our success, and they treat you like an equal because you’re going to be their colleague someday.”

While pursuing her advanced studies at CSULB, Angela sought to gain more experience in the rec therapy field, both in the community and acute hospital setting.

“It doesn’t matter what background you come from with wanting to enter the recreation therapy field,” Angela said. “Whatever you’re passionate about, you can implement into your practice.”

In her current role as program coordinator of the adaptive recreation program that she helps implement for the City of Rancho Palos Verdes, Angela leads a group of adults in the community with developmental disabilities in a variety of activities such as art, sports, cooking, crafting, music and more.

Angela was also a recreation therapy intern at Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA, working with older adult patients struggling with health issues like dementia. She also got hands-on experience working with children as young as six years old and teenagers as old as seventeen.

“I feel like I really fit that role,” she said describing her internship position at the UCLA hospital. “Recreation therapy is a different form of healthcare and it’s honestly like (and they don’t usually like us saying this) the ‘fun form of healthcare.’”

Pictured below: The many roles Angela Lightner gets to play in her various recreation therapy and recreation administration settings

“Don’t get me wrong, what we are doing is very serious too, but you get the sense that clients love to see us – we bring joy to their day and you bond with your patients and build relationships; it’s great for someone like me who has a more extraverted personality and who likes helping people anyway I can.”

Angela relays that recreation therapy is great for someone who is a “jack of all trades.”

“I play guitar and sing too, so when working with some of our dementia patients…some of them who would even be at the point of nonverbal communication or coming in with an advanced stage of dementia – they’d sing along, and they’d start to remember the lyrics from some of their old favorite songs.”

According to Angela, having a myriad of interests in your arsenal is a critical tool in helping bring about the best in people when working with any rec therapy population.

“You want to find out what your patients’ interests are, and what they like to do, to channel that in your work, and help them achieve their goals and create better [health] outcomes for them.”

The list of people impacted by Angela’s work goes on and on, from a severe autism spectrum disorder patient not wanting to come in for sessions at the start of their journey, to then being first at the door every Wednesday to play some sort of activity Angela has set up – bowling one day, music and crafting the next. Or the older adult struggling with dementia symptoms, and becoming anxious, until he is met with Angela’s comforting words.

Asked about what advice she would give other students looking to get into rec therapy, Angela says, “I would say just try and have as many diverse experiences as you possibly can because you don’t know what kind of doors will open for you.”

Angela Lightner is graduating this May with her Master of Science in Recreation Administration. She has also obtained a Post-Bac in Recreation Therapy during her time at CSULB. Among her numerous department awards, Angela was named to the list of Graduate Student Dean's Honors as well as a Departmental Outstanding Project Award-winner.

Congratulations, Angela!