Melody Z

Melody Zurawski
Marine Trainer to Chiropractor
Student: Doctor of Chiropractic
June 2020

Melody Zurawski is a Doctor of Chiropractic student at Life University from Nashville, Tennessee. At LIFE she’s been inspired by the big picture and realized she can do more than she thought to leave a Lasting Purpose. “It’s been encouraging seeing people serve and ask for help, and hearing from professors about how the University has positively impacted their lives,” she said.

Zurawski started her undergraduate studying biology wanting to be a marine mammal trainer. “I quickly realized that going to BYU in the desert was not the best place to do that,” she said. “So I switched to Geography just because I love to travel, and it was important to me to get a college education.” Zurawski said she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do in the long term until a few weeks into working as a chiropractic assistant. “I was like ‘I can actually do this for the rest of my life and love it!’ That was cool,” she said.

Zurawski first discovered Chiropractic when she sat through a group doctors report where the patients were educated on not only how chiropractic help you, but also what the chiropractic mindset and lifestyle looks like. Once she became a chiropractic assistant, the other employees encouraged her to go to chiropractic school. “But I was scared out of my mind,” she remembered.

“They always said ‘when you go to school, if and when you do, you have to go to LIFE.’ So, it was six weeks later that I was down here and starting Pre-D.C. for a quarter.”

“My first day I had an emotional breakdown because I had been out of school for four years,” she shared. “That first quarter was a really cool way to acclimate to LIFE before I got into the D.C. program. It’s been one of the most challenging things I’ve done over a long period in my life.”

One of the ways that Zurawski is involved in extracurriculars is as co-president of the MaxLiving club. She’s been co-president for about a year. “That’s been really cool because it pushes me out of my comfort zones. Normally, if I had my way, I would put blinders on in class and not talk to most people and just do my thing.” It’s helped Zurawsi remember that there is a community to tap into at LIFE. “Not everyone knows what they want to do, so I should share what I’ve been given and give people hope that building your own practice can be awesome,” she said.

Zurawski described the chiropractic program as a roller coaster. “There’s been amazing quarters and really bad quarters, but I think I’ve realized it’s all mindset. I learned early on that having a relationship with the professors is needed for me to feel accountable to show up, participate and engage.”

She believes as a student it can be so easy to make it all about you and forget that these professors are a wealth of experience and information, but they’re people too. “Even if you don’t like a class, when I have those positive interactions with professors, it makes it easier to get through the hard moments,” Zurawski said.

After school, her long-term plan is to have a practice in Manhattan. “I don’t know if that will happen immediately or be a later stepping stone,” Zurawski shared. “That city really resonates with me and brings me peace, as crazy as that sounds.”

 

 

 

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