Sherman PRIDE

The Farmer's Table

Sherman has welcomed The Farmer’s Table to its on campus Spine café last quarter. Since then, the café has been looking better and better. The first noticeable changes were moving around tables to better optimize the space. Also, the tables are now covered by a thick paper to allow for easy clean up. Furthermore, they began to paint the walls which couldn’t be fully enjoyed until this quarter. Overall, it looks very vibrant and inviting in the café now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They also are providing a healthier food service by serving locally grown/made products. I would say that was the driving force behind the name... The farmer’s table

I haven’t had a chance yet to try many of their foods, but I really enjoy their tomato soup and breakfast menu. For more information you can check out a post by Melinda or their website.

Eagles

Last night I was able to cross something off my bucket list. I had the pleasure of seeing the Eagles perform live in Charlotte. The theme of the concert was history of the Eagles. The concert featured the Eagles playing hits from all of their albums spanning from Eagles (1972) to Long Road Out of Eden (2007).

The first set featured songs from their earlier albums: “Saturday Nights,” "Tequilla Sunrise," “Peaceful Easy Feeling,” “Desperado,” “Best of My Love,” “Lyin Eyes,” “One of These Nights,” and “Take it to the Limit.”

I am not going to lie, I didn’t recognize more than a few songs from this set. They played about 15 songs and I recognized maybe 4. I am willing to admit I am not a hardcore fan, but I was a little surprised I didn’t recognize more songs. It was a little sad that I wasn't more versed in their music. I did recognized a lot of the songs in the second set.

The second set featured songs like: “I Can’t Tell You Why”, “New Kid in Town”, “Heartache Tonight”, “In the City”, “Life’s been Good”, “In the Long Run”, and “Life in the Fast Lane”.

These were the classic Eagles songs I could sing along with. In fact I think they played every song I know except "Seven Bridges Road."

Then time for the encore and the song everyone was waiting for: “Hotel California.” They also played “Take It Easy.”

Hearing “Hotel California” live was worth going to the concert to me, but I also got to enjoy all of my favorites and as well as learn more about the older classics for this amazingly talented American rock band.

I think it is awesome that Sherman is located so close to cities like Greenville, Charlotte, etc so I can enjoy big events such as this concert. This was one of the perks of being located in Spartanburg, SC.

Parking Lot Swap

There are essentially two parking lots at Sherman College meant for students: The Health Center lot and the lower lot. There is also a lot exclusively for interns, clinic patients, and the circle outside the main building. If students park in these exclusive lots, they run the risk of getting a fine. Since my quarter is currently going between the health center and Scallon Building, some of my quartermates park in the health center lot on days they are running late, while the rest of us park in the lower lot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lower lot                                          Health  Center lot in the distance

Today, I went to pick something up for Melinda that was in her car. She didn’t tell me she was running late and parked in the other lot. I went to the lower lot looking for her car. It wasn’t there. I had to go to the other side of campus to get her car. To pay her back, I moved her car to the lower lot next to mine.

This would be a normal prank, except Melinda drives a stick-shift. I have 5 minutes of stick driving experience; all of which was coasting or sitting still. Melinda was aware of this since she was trying to teach me. We gave up on teaching me after I stalled her car 10+ times. Given this prior experience, it is almost needless to say, Melinda was dumbfounded when she noticed her car wasn’t in the health center lot. And how I managed to make it go from one spot to another she will never know!

 

Trunk or Treat

Halloween is a great time of year. The leaves are changing. Fall festivals and activities are beginning. Some people are already planning Christmas decorations. At Sherman College, we celebrate with our local community by having an event called Trunk or Treat. The event occurs at the Sherman Health Center in the adjacent parking lot. This event features Sherman staff and students who volunteer to decorate the trunk of their car and give out candy and/or other treats.

Many students I talked to said the event was much busier this year as compared to years prior. Some volunteers had to make a run for refills of candy.

 

 

There were also some great costumes. I think this increased traffic supports one of the goals that Sherman be well recognized in its local community. I was very excited to be an observer of the action and hope to be more involved next year.

Boards Studying

It is amazing how one thought can ruin your feelings about the productivity for an entire weekend. I had cleaned the apartment. I had studied for my upcoming midterms. I had completed my tutoring for the week. I even got to enjoy an episode of Duck Dynasty. I was feeling accomplished. I thought maybe I should just go to bed to get an even better fresh start for the following week.

Then, I thought, ‘I didn’t look at any board review material in the past week and a half.’

I am slated for Part I of the NBCE boards in March and most quarters above 5^th are in the process of looking over past material relevant to the tests that determine one’s ability to obtain a chiropractic license. It will be a daunting task to be competing with all the other chiropractic students across the country to pass this onslaught of tests.

For the potential and lower quarter students reading this: The Part I board consists of six parts/tests taken on a Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning on Sherman’s campus. I believe each of the six test has 110 questions covering topics such as biochemistry, spinal anatomy, pathology, physiology, etc. During the testing time there may not be any personal belongings in the examination area. Pencils and the test material are provided. Bathroom breaks are not allowed. It is an intense weekend. Hopefully all goes well and I can pass all parts on the first go at it.  

 

Bagelfest Fall 13

As I have blogged in the past, one of my favorite traditions at Sherman College is Bagelfest. This is a time to get together as a whole Sherman community and enjoy bagels and discuss various upcoming and current topics. This event typically runs long and is jam packed with announcements of future events, celebrating our incoming quarter of interns at the health center, and welcoming our first quarter students.

Highlights from the event:

Dr. Cordero shared of his travels and the buzz out in the chiropractic community about the things going on at Sherman College.

We welcomed 2 new Case doctors at the health center that were desperately needed.

It is obvious from this event that Sherman students love their teachers. Several teachers reached milestone years of teaching at Sherman. This included Dr. Guangming Wu (5 yr), Ms. Carolyn Best (15 yr), Dr. Bob Irwin (15 yr), Dr. Ron Castellucci (15yr), and Dr. Cindy Gibbon (20 yr). Students clapped and cheered for their favorite teachers. Dr. Ron was also honored with standing ovations as he was voted faculty of the year. Mrs. Kristy Shepherd, admissions, was also honored with standing ovations as she was honored as staff member of the year.

Scholarships given by the financial aid office were awarded in addition to the coveted alumni association scholarship.

Dr. Seay pinned the incoming class of interns

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

The incoming first quarter class was not  introduced. Typically, the first quarter would be introduced one at a time, and they would share basic information about themselves. Many of the lower quarter students (< 6 quarter) were disappointed and frustrated with this change. This time was a great opportunity to learn names and help the new quarter assimilate. It is safe to say I am never going to remember the incoming quarter’s names anymore. However, cutting out this process saved about an hour of time so I can understand the administrations choice to remove the practice.

 

 

 

 

President's Assembly: Dr. Rauch

On Wednesday, Dr. Bradley Rauch spoke at the President’s assembly. He is a very successful chiropractor who has helped start chiropractic clinics in 29 states and 4 countries. He is also very passionate about chiropractic missions. He has worked in countries like Haiti, Dominican Republic, Russia, Croatia, and Italy. Throughout his life experiences he has seen chiropractic care help so many people. Dr. Rauch stated, “We have opportunity to change people’s lives.” This can be done by “reconnect[ing] people with innate intelligence.” He believes that if you “tell the story with love in your heart… it just works.”

That was the major message of the assembly. It doesn’t matter who or where, only love in your heart and an understanding of the power of the adjustment.

Dr. Rauch also gave some advice on starting a practice. He stated that students need to choose a community to love and start a practice there. He told a story of another chiropractic college having a board in their office of alumni affairs of the “no go” zones because the area is too densely populated with chiropractors. He said that was nonsense. He believed that if you go into the community and differentiate yourself by telling the story you can get started and serve a crazy amount of people.

Dr. Rauch also emphasized the need to do “the work” as student so we don’t lose our fire for chiropractic. The work for him was: mission trips, Dynamic Essentials, New Beginnings, technique seminars, mentorship programs, personal development, and podcasts.

All in all, Dr. Rauch was captivating to listen to and really fired me up about going out into the field (despite it being a more than 2 years away). I hope President Cordero can continue to bring in great speakers to empower Sherman students to have a clear understanding of how to succeed.

 

Gait Runway Project

 

 

 

 

Is this a zombie apocalypse? Despite AMC’s Walking Dead being on my mind, this is just a picture from Neuropathophysiology. In this class, students learn about disorders of the nervous system and how these disorders affect the physiology of the body.

 

 

 

One such example is the study of gait (the stride or walk of an individual). As a teaching aid, the class was divided up into 7 groups to do a project runway. Gaits from hemiplegic (which may result from a stroke and affect one side of the body) to an ataxic gait (one seen from drinking too much alcohol) were demonstrated as best as possible by myself and other classmates. It was a fun class period and I am glad Dr. York uses such teaching methods to enhance the learning of an otherwise dry topic.

I believe that this style of learning is one example of why Sherman College is so great. There is a fair share of lecture during a given class period, but there is a heavily practical/get-up-and-do-it mentality to the material.

Howl at the Moon

The first week of class is the perfect time to get away. I believe last quarter I went white water rafting around this time. This quarter, I ended up at Howl at the Moon, a dueling piano bar in Charlotte.

The event was put together by Melinda. She had won the event almost six months ago, but wanted to maximize the number of Sherman students willing to attend by waiting for a non-boards quarter. It was a smart decision since the Howl at the Moon allowed for a party of 100 people to get in to the bar for free and enjoy party specific specials.

I had fun at the event. A good number of Sherman students came out early to enjoy the buffet style dinner from 5-7; however, the party really started around 9 pm when the 5^th quarter crew showed up. It was a lot of fun listening to some of our favorite tunes as requested by the 5 very talented musicians playing for us. We were rocking out to hits like Don’t Stop Believing, Bohemian Rhapsody, Jeremiah was a Bull Frog, and more.

I was amazed how a musician would be looking up the words to a song while asking one of their fellow band mates to just switch instruments “real quick” while they learn the song. This whole process would only take about one minute. It was cool to watch and made the whole experience even more enjoyable.  

As a group, we also had some fun with the phrase of the night which was posted behind the band… PS. Wade is my Hero.

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.