Friday, August 6, 2021
Faces of LIFE Friday

Haley Turpin
Connecting the Mind with the Body
Student: Doctor of Chiropractic
August 2021

Growing up in a family full of college athletes helped Life University Doctor of Chiropractic student Haley Turpin start thinking about how the human body works.

“We love sports,” Turpin said. “We’ve always had great conversations about the body and training, always having that drive to do something bigger and harder, and I’m very thankful that I had family conversations and lessons about that.”

The Louisiana native found her way to Chiropractic while living in Colorado, and she credits a practice there with leading her to explore the profession.

“Through this office, I heard of the principle of what Chiropractic was, and it changed everything for me. It was the philosophy that really drew me into Chiropractic in the first place,” she said. “I started asking around to a bunch of doctors who I admired, and most of them said – regardless of whether they went to Life University or not – they were like, ‘Absolutely, you’ve got to go to Life University. So many opportunities are provided there.’

After visiting the University for LIFE Leadership Weekend and learning about Vitalism, Turpin said, “Everything just made sense for me.”

“Connecting the mind with the body and allowing the body, with its great ability to heal itself, to thrive just made sense in my heart,” Turpin recalled. “I was just drawn to be surrounded by this environment.”

Turpin said the support she’s received from the LIFE community – fellow students, faculty members and staff – has helped her thrive at the University, including as she was figuring out who she wants to be. Now that she’s in her final few quarters, that includes deciding where to practice.

“Especially in 2020, I had plenty of time to really get to know myself more and ask those questions of, ‘Where do I want to go after this?'” Turpin explained, saying she considered returning to Colorado or moving to Tennessee. “In my heart, I really want to go back to Louisiana to serve the communities that I grew up around. It would be super special to go back and be able to provide something that I have fallen in love with in other areas of the U.S., but to bring it back home. That’s very exciting for me, so that’s where I’m putting my eyes right now.”

Turpin encouraged students to look at the bigger picture, above and beyond their schoolwork.

“It’s really easy to focus on doing enough or making a good enough grade, or practicing enough to be able to do the skills versus asking yourself the questions of, ‘Who do I need to be when I get out of school to provide the type of healing I want to provide in my community?’ I think when you start focusing on, ‘Who do I need to be as a person?’ versus ‘What do I have to do to be enough?’ it’s a game changer, and you really start to see your skills follow more aligned with who you are as a person,” she said. “And never, ever discredit how powerful it is to put your hands on someone when you have the intention of love and healing, and the effects it can give the body.”

 

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Faces of LIFE is a story campaign that showcases members of the dynamic LIFE community, including faculty/staff, students, alumni and health science professionals. Interested in being featured or nominating a candidate? E-mail Natalie.Esparza@LIFE.edu. Read more Faces of LIFE stories.