D.C. student, Treasurer for Orthopedic Club

“Future Colleagues”

 

What made your first quarter at Life U memorable?

I would honestly say it’s the close friend group that I made. I made all my best friends at orientation. We are all still really close now. But because I was part of the ‘Covid Quarter,’ I had classes completely online. So, I didn’t get the full Life University (Life U) first-quarter experience, but because I had all of them in my cohort going through the D.C. program, they made my first quarter more memorable because we got to study together, [sit] through lectures together. It created a really great sense of community even though we weren’t in classes on the ground.

What surprised you about your first quarter at Life U?

I think the workload definitely surprised me, but it also surprised me how helpful the teachers were in acclimating students [from a semester system to a quarter system]. All of the teachers were super encouraging. Dr. [Samuel] Demons is one of my favorites. He helped me a lot with osteology.

I think it’s just that a lot of the teachers saw us not just as students, but as future colleagues. That was more surprising to me than anything else. Coming from a very large school, we were just college students, and we didn’t get the one-on-one with our professors like we do in graduate school. They are seeing us as being a part of their profession one day. It was really helpful and made school a lot more enjoyable.

Tell us a bit about what you enjoy about the Orthopedic Club.

One of my favorite things about [Orthopedic Club] is the way that we do learning in the club; we are just structured a little bit differently. We go through a case-by-case study, we go through the anatomy and then we go into different techniques you can do with soft tissue work for our patients.

Not only that, I enjoy that we look at many different aspects of what it means to be a chiropractor or an orthopedist. We look at billing trends, what it looks like to work with an NFL team and more.

Our club is very much not just looking at the hands-on aspect of being a chiropractor, but also the lifestyle, the salary and what kind of jobs you can get as a chiropractor besides the standard opening your own business or being an associate. Our club looks at working with athletes or working with lawyers, going into the courtroom and working with different cases.

So that is what I appreciate about it. I also love our advisor. Dr. [William Carter] is the teacher for Orthopedic Diagnosis, and he is our advisor as well. He is just a wealth of knowledge to share with his students, and he is just a great mentor to have.

What advice would you give to a new or prospective Life U student? 

Always be open-minded. It’s never going to be exactly what you expect it to be because, coming in, I had all these different expectations of what it was going to be, and it honestly ended up being better.

I think you have to roll with the punches and understand that […] things are going to be a lot more difficult than you expect. However, if you reach out to teachers, reach out to older students and faculty members serving your quarter, it makes things that much easy when you network because we are going to be doctors, and we are going to be business owners one day. networking at Life U is honestly giving me so many opportunities.

My mentor is a Life U grad, and now I am probably going to have a job with her after I graduate. So never underestimate the power of connecting with people and knowing people. It is one of Life U’s Mottos [the Speak Tradition] that when you see someone, you say hello and say something. All the connections you can make at Life U can make your first quarter memorable.

 

 

My 1st Quarter is a campaign featuring students reflecting on their 1st quarter of studies at Life University and why it was so special and unique. All University students (undergraduates, graduates and D.C.) are encouraged to share their experiences in order to help those in future incoming classes get a real-life glimpse of what they can expect as they start a new chapter of their education journeys at LIFE. If you would like to be featured or have a suggestion, email Marketing@life.edu.