So the New Year is here and with it comes the start of my third and final year of Chiropractic school (plus a quarter of preceptorship after that, but I like to round down, it makes me feel better). I would be lying if I said it hasn't been a long road but my experience at Palmer West has been one of the most fulfilling experiences I have ever undergone. Two years ago today, I was packing my last few bags and saying goodbye to all of my friends as I was about to pickup and relocate 3000 miles across country from Maryland to Sunny California. The thought of moving away from everything and everyone that gave me comfort, to enroll alone in a three and a quarter, year round program, was intimidating to say the least. I was moving in with two girls I had never met and was especially worried about the rigor of a Doctorate program and how I would compare to the other students. As nervous as I was, I'll never forget the feeling I had once my plane started its final descent into San Jose and I saw the bright lights of the city below me and the mountain tops poking through the clouds. I was overwhelmed with excitement.
Orientation was the next day and it was exciting to meet my new classmates whom I heard would become like family to me over the next three years. Now that I am far along in the program I can assert this to be painfully, but fondly true. I have about 24 students in my class and we are together every day, all day, for going on three years now. We have palpated every last bony landmark on each other in the many labs we have taken and, once the school day is over, we get together AGAIN at night to study more, or sometimes blow off the studying to grab beers and forget all about Dr. Moosavi's Lower Extremity midterm (until the buzz subsides and we stay up all night cramming and kicking ourselves for the position we've put ourselves in). Being in the rigorous program that Palmer has developed forces you to reach out to your peers for help when the course load gets heavy, and again when the last final for the quarter is completed and you need a friend to head down to the pool with. I have made some of my best friends at Palmer and could not imagine getting through school without their support. (Shout-outs to Anderson, Kincaid and Ready!)
Aside from the friendships I've made here, the area can't be beat. We've got San Francisco 45 minutes North, Santa Cruz, a famous beach and surfing town to the West, and Big Sur to the South. Then, if you venture a little further we've got Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, and Napa Valley, before you start making your way down the stunning coast to Santa Barbara, Malibu, Long Beach, L.A., and eventually San Diego (but that's a bit of a journey). Making the long trek from my home state of New Jersey all the way to California seemed like a big ordeal, but now that I'm here I wouldn't trade it for anything.
I guess the main idea I want to get across in this first post is that if you've decided on Chiropractic school but don't know where to go, or are worried about venturing too far, my advice to you is follow your instinct and just take the leap. There's no place you can go where you won't make great friends or where you won't find happiness and contentment, if you're open and willing. Palmer West was the best decision for me, and to be honest, I don't see how it wouldn't be the best decision for everyone! Of course I'm biased but, with all the beauty and excitement of the Bay Area, how could I not be?
