Not only is it summer time, but
somehow it’s already halfway over. I just got back from a very relaxing and
rewarding three week summer break. During that time, I made sure to get away
from school as fast as possible and tend to the more important things in life
such as friends and family. I spent a lot of time the first week at home. The
next week, I went and visited my older brother in Florida for the week. With
him being in graduate school and me in chiropractic school, our breaks are
NEVER on the same weeks with our crazy schedules. Therefore, this was the first
time I have seen him since Christmas. That just seemed way too long to be away
from somebody you spent the majority of your life growing up with. So, I made
it a priority to get down there and enjoy some time with him. It was really fun
catching up and just being together again. Once I got back to NC, my fiance’
and I went and visited some good friends from college down in Wilmington and
had a really fun weekend at the beach :-).
Those vacations were much needed
after a hectic quarter. My classmates and I completed 10 courses (largest
course load to date for us). Below is a quick list of all ten classes we took
so you have an idea what we have been studying the past three months.
1)
Clinical Reasoning
2)
Pre-Clinic
3)
Entrance Exam for Clinic
4)
Clinical Case and Diagnosis Management II
5)
Patient Education – I of course focused my
entire class experience on Upper Cervical Care. The concept of Upper Cervical
Care is simple. People don’t get it for many reasons. The three main reasons I
came up with are these: 1) It’s too simple they can’t believe it. 2) People
today are brainwashed thinking that they need to take something or put a
foreign substance in their body to obtain “health” and “wellness.” I was one of
these people for the longest time, until I finally learned WHAT health is and
WHERE it comes from. 3) They simply have not heard of it. We have to get the
word out!
6)
X-ray Analysis II
7)
Soft Tissue Pathology
8)
Thoraco-lumbar X-ray positioning
9)
Spinal Exam Review
10)
Applications of Clinical Radiology
Phew. Good news
is: it gets a little easier the next few quarters. Next quarter, the schedule
gets knocked down a class for a total of 9, and then it substantially starts
dropping. After Christmas, I won’t be taking more than 3 or 4 classes at a time
until I graduate. I can’t express the excitement to be done with managing and
studying for so many classes and getting to focus on getting people well by
letting their bodies express themselves the way they are intended to.
So, at the end of my last blog, I had
just completed my first board exam out of five in order to get my license in
North Carolina. I was one of the last ones to check my scores in my class.
Everyone had checked his/her score first thing in the morning once school
started. I wanted to wait until I got home so I can share it with my loved ones
back home who have supported me and encouraged me so much through this entire
process. I am very pleased and proud of my classmates when I say that all 8 of
us passed all six sections of the first national board exam. We have been one
of the few classes lately to have a 100% pass rate on the first attempt. We
were all very excited about the great news knowing that all our hard work for
the past 21 months paid off. All the Friday nights studying instead of having
fun, the spending all day Sundays wanting to watch football but have to study
because of the multiple exams waiting in the upcoming week, the late nights in
the library, the constant sacrifice of balancing studying and time with loved
ones…. It all led to us passing the exam and moving on to our next chapter in
our careers in chiropractic school!
So, here comes 9th quarter.
This is the quarter where we are allowed to start seeing student patients in
the health center and start completing our clinic requirements towards graduation.
I am very excited to actually apply what I have been training to do for the
past two years. My experience at Sherman has gone at an incredibly fast rate,
yet at the same time, kind of slow. I feel I have been in school for so long
that I don’t know anything else. On my breaks, it takes me two or three days
off of school until I realize I am on break. Those first few days, I feel like
I have to be studying or preparing for a project or exam. It is crazy how we
get on such a routine; we can sometimes get overwhelmed in it. A lesson I
learned this summer is taking a vacation is EXTREMELY important for one’s
health. Yes, the same term which we associate with upper cervical care, proper
nutrition, and educated decisions. Letting the body just chill is vital. Look
at the world’s strongest men. Bodybuilders who can pull 18-wheeler trucks
behind them take complete shutdown weeks every two or three months. Can you
imagine being the world’s strongest man or woman and taking an entire week off
up to FIVE to SIX times per year? Sounds impossible, right? No. They will be
the first ones to tell you that the body needs rest; physically, mentally,
emotionally.
So,
my advice heading into the quarter? Take a vacation. Throw a dart at a map and
go there. Don’t go to the gym for seven consecutive days (for the gym rats
only). Take some time to go see some family or long lost friends. Recharge the
batteries. The body is a fine-tuned machine. But, we do the most healing and
growing when we are resting. We were created that way. God Himself took a day
off after creating the ENTIRE universe for six consecutive days. We’re wired to
rest, sometimes our society doesn’t allow it, so…….. go against society. Listen
to your body.
God Bless,
Josh
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