As an athlete growing up, Conor McNally had an appreciation for nutrition, exercise and overall health and well-being.
While in high school, he worked closely with the school’s athletic trainer and a local physical therapist. “After spending so much time with these two gentlemen talking shop on all things training and sports, I realized that exercise science was the exact field for me,” he said.
In the fall of 2009, McNally was enrolled in Ithaca College’s exercise science program. While he enjoyed the academic experience, he struggled with being away from his hometown of Buffalo. Determined to enter UB’s exercise science program, McNally reached out to a professor in the program who helped him plan and prepare for transferring. In the fall of 2010, he reached his goal.
Once here, he began making the most of his education. “The summer before my junior year, I was fortunate enough to undergo the most intense and knowledge-packed experience of my academic career—taking gross anatomy, a class in which we dissect and study human cadavers,” said McNally. “It was by far the most memorable course I’ve taken. Not only was it great to really see what the body looks like—after all, textbooks can’t always give you the true picture of what’s in there—but I enjoyed that we had to give presentations on parts of the dissected body.”
After graduating from the exercise science BS program, Connor would also receive his master's in exercise science from the UB School of Public Health and Health Professions.