Sherman PRIDE

Catan Night

I love the board game Settlers of Catan (Cities and Knights expansion always). I have been playing since I was 10 years old. I know every rule, piece, and progressive card. I can tell you the number of each piece and the probability of each dice role. If there is one thing I have mastered in life, I think it is this game.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have been teaching the game to Melinda, unfortunately she doesn’t understand it in full yet. As I watch her make decisions and process how to play the game, I think of the walk of Sherman students. Students enter Sherman College with many false notions about the program, teachers, philosophy, and chiropractic. Each quarter brings a little more to the puzzle. Each classroom encounter, club meeting, and president’s assembly brings together a strategy for success. Every one strives for a full picture of the profession and ultimately, the best for the community they seek to serve.

I hope every student, including myself, are able to overcome and even enjoy this process of growth. Mastery doesn’t come in a night or weekend seminar. It comes from hard work and practice. So let’s keep up the good work as another quarter begins.  

 

Upcoming events

One year ago today I was sitting in orientation, registering for classes, and meeting the people I would spend the next 3½ years with. I can remember being nervous, hoping I would find good friends, not sure what level of difficulty the classes would be, and not even where the business office was to pick up my student loan check. 

One year later, it all seems old hat. Tonight I am looking forward to starting a new quarter. We have lots of events coming up in the month of October.

Oct. 4 – Happy Hour at Howl at the Moon in Charlotte open to all Sherman students (not a school sponsored event, but just a chance to hangout before to quarter gets too crazy. Find the Facebook event page to RSVP)

Oct. 12^th – LCW philosophy event 4:45pm on Sherman’s campus. Find an LCW member to purchase tickets. $10 for students in advance, 12 speakers with dinner provided.

Oct. 19^th – The National Talk the Tic competition where students present their health talk

Oct. 19^th – 20^th – IRAPS 12 hours of CE credit available to doctors. Contact Stacy Bradey for more information.

Oct. 22^nd – Fundraiser for Angela including Spaghetti supper and silent auctions.

I am sure there are more events. There is always something going on at Sherman, oh and 9 classes this quarter! 

Transcript

During my stay at home in Michigan, I was very excited to learn I could apply for a renewal of an existing scholarship. I believe I first applied for this particular scholarship freshman year of undergrad, and the foundation was generous enough to continue their giving for another year.

Despite this good news, I realized that I need to send a copy of my transcript in with the request for renewal. I am currently on break and the scholarship is due before I get back to Spartanburg to get my transcript mailed out. I was very pleased to find out there is an online option for receiving/sending transcripts. I was a little skeptical that it would work, but I was able to fill out my information electronically and get it sent off.

For anyone else that may be in similar situation, it is fairly easy. Just go to the Sherman page and search ‘transcript.’ From there, you simply make an account with Parchment Transcript Ser. They can send them via print or electronically through email. It is fairly cheap and easy. You can also order another diploma. Thanks Sherman.

Breakfast in Bed

While Sherman is a lot of work for the students, it is also a commitment from family and friends as well.  I am sure my husband had no clue what he was agreeing to when he said I could go back to school. 

For those of you that do not know Phil is from England. I always joke the best things are imported: wine, cheese, and husbands! Phil and I had a long distance relationship when we first met. We talked on the phone every day, but we were only able to see each other a few times a year. When I started thinking about chiropractic college, I thought it can't be any worse than when Phil lived in England - we are in the same country and just a few hours apart. Being apart is a challenge, but it is a sacrifice for a goal. 

I know this program would be a lot harder without all the support from my family and friends. I would like to thank my parents for taking care of Abigail and Roslyn. Ryan for the countless hours of studying. But most importantly, my wonderful and loving husband Phil for taking on the role of a single parent 5 days a week. I cannot express how grateful I am for your love and support.  

Just an example of how wonderful Phil is, my week of break started with breakfast in bed! I don't think I have ever been so happy to be home! 

Gratitude and Perspective

It is hard at Sherman to not compare yourself to your fellow classmates. I would say it is part of human nature. We spend all day together, study at night, take all the same tests, and get your grades back at the same time. It is very easy to look at your grade, and then ask the person next to you “How did you do?” I personally try to ask the question “Did you pass?” This way I am not comparing myself, but that does not always work.

It always fascinates me the responses. You have the students that are mad they made a B (myself included at times) then you have the students that are happy they passed. I think at times we all need a little gratitude and perspective. Today is that day for me. 4^th quarter is said to be one of the hardest quarters at Sherman, but to quote an upper quarter student, “The hardest quarter is the one you are in.”  

While I don’t agree with the attitude of saying a C is good enough, if a B or C is your best then it is good enough! Yes, it frustrates me when my grade does not reflect my knowledge or effort, but that too is part of being a student. I look at each class and my final grade, and ask myself if I am ready to pass boards based on my performance in this class. I simply want to do my best. I wish all my fellow students good luck on the rest of finals!  

Moving

The Saturday before finals is a good time to start studying. Instead, I found myself moving. When I moved in a year ago, it seemed like a good idea to move in two weeks before classes. I assumed I would use the time to become acclimated to living on my own in a new state. Now, I realize that signing a year lease in the fall means moving out the weekend before finals. This is the case since the fall break lasts a week therefore, two weeks prior is finals.

I am definitely glad that my Sherman family was willing to help me out. It was a full day’s worth of work moving all of my stuff, but hopefully this won’t feel so ruff next year. A special thanks to all the first quarter students that went out of their way to come out and help.

Now, I have a third floor, two bedroom apartment. I also have a new roommate who will be a first quarter student this quarter. I think having a roommate will make this upcoming quarter have a different feel than prior quarters. I am hopeful since we were friends prior that it will be a good year.

The finished product

Neuroanatomy II

Neuroanatomy II has quite the reputation at Sherman College. I believe Dr. Duke has been teaching the class since 1981. He has a refined method for conveying the material which has been developed over many generations of Sherman students. Many will tell that it was the hardest class they took while in the basic science curriculum. I personally would describe it as a journey with ups and downs. My advice to future quarters would be to buckle up and go along the ride. You may feel like you are in art class sometimes, but the end result will be a better understanding of the inconnected system of the human brain. 

Here is a diagram of a class drawing dealing with the connections of the limbic system (which deals with memory and smell). By the end of Neuro II hopefully you will know all about this too.

Family Life

I typically write about my own family, but this week I was inspired to write about a fellow classmate. Cameron Guida and his wife Katie Guida are both students at Sherman College. Katie is in 1^st quarter and Cameron is in mixed quarter after transfer to Sherman from another college. We have several married couples at Sherman and we have several students with children, but Cameron and Katie fit into both categories. AvaKate is 2 years old and absolutely adorable.

How do they make it work? AvaKate goes to daycare during the day and is picked up by Katie in the afternoon. Cameron has upper cervical class at 4:00 and then trades with Katie at 5:00 so she can go to lab. This week Katie had a lab exam at 4:00. What do you do? Answer: bring AvaKate to upper cervical class. 

I know there are parents thinking, how is it possible to be a parent and a student at the same time? What happens if my kids get sick and can’t go to daycare? You are allowed a few absences in every class or every once in a while we have had an extra classmate for a day. A guess what, children who are under chiropractic care get sick less!

County Fair

The county fair is a fine southern tradition. Where else would we dress up little girls to compete in Fairest of the Fair, deep fry candy bars, and let our children go on rides that look completely unsafe and dirty. 

As a child I always look forward to fair week.  When I was younger my mother helped me enter arts and crafts into the contest, a tradition that my daughter Abigail carried on this year. She had 15 entries and won 5 blue ribbons and 5 white ribbons. As a teenager, I was able to meet my friends and go on the rides without parent supervision always a big deal to a teenager. I would also volunteer at our church booth, selling food to raise money for the youth group. The church booth is famous for our chicken and dumplings. There is just something about the nostalgia of the fair that brings me back year after year.  

Holiday Weekend

After hanging out with Melinda, Phil and Wendy at the Bill Engvall show, I packed up and headed North. I was headed to Asbury College in Wilmore, Kentucky in order to visit my sister Hannah. She just started her college career. It was about a 3 and ½ hour drive. I was a little surprised when the GoogleMaps directions took me off the highway and on to back country roads for about an hour of the trip. It was a fun drive going around the curves and whipping through the small towns, but I opted for highway driving on the way back.

When I arrived on campus, Hannah met me outside their chapel. It was a beautiful campus. Unfortunately, everything was closed down for the holiday weekend. We hung out with one of her friends who was ironically named Ryan. We enjoy activities like pool and The Princess Bride.

 

 

On Monday, we went to Lexington and saw the city. Then it was back home to Spartanburg.

It was quite the weekend spanning three states: Kentucky, North Carolina, and Tennessee.