Superweekend: How to Squeeze It All Into 48 Hours!

As many of you know, Superweekend is rapidly approaching. I'm excited and simultaneously crazed by all the activity. What to do? Perhaps the pell-mell pace of things has me just as twisted up as everyone else. I should back up, because I can almost hear some of you asking: "What the heck is Superweekend?"

Superweekend (April 17-19) is comprised of multiple interlocking and overlapping events occurring on Life University's campus. The cool thing and the tough thing about the multiple events? Most people want to do more than one event while on campus that week. Let's lay it out:

1) Vitalism Conference: This ground breaking conference is drawing not just chiropractors who are eager to explore the interface between a vitalistic philosophy and chiropractic philosophy and practice, but also academicians from a variety of fields. The on campus conference (Via the Life University Octagon) will culminate in a white paper, laying out the intersection of vitalistic thought across the professions and industries present. This really is groundbreaking stuff folks!!! A schedule and more info can be found here.

2) Life Leadership Weekend: The quarterly event hosts prospective students on an extensive look into the real world of Life University. We are expecting a big group this time and can't wait to hang out and show them not just the campus and the area, but what Life is all about. This event is free to prospective students and we are almost at capacity, so if you know someone who'd be interested in this, ACT NOW! Read more details here.

3) LIFEForce Appreciation Weekend: In case you've missed it...the doctors in the field are REALLY excited about all the exciting stuff happening at Life. Our alumni and friends have been actively recruiting for Life University via a program called LIFEforce. This weekend invites our LIFEforce members to come onto campus and to give Life a chance to give something back. The doctors will be interacting with the prospective students, with the Vitalism Conference and will have several VIP sessions just for them (dinner with Dr. Riekeman, etc...). Look forward to a great time, great thought, great fellowship, and a stronger connection to what is going on at the school and in the profession. And we pay for almost everything! Who'd want to miss that? Seriously?

4) Rugby Championship Sweet Sixteen: We are hosting the collegiate level eastern rugby championship games on campus. We are expect fans from across the east coast. Our boys won't be playing (wrong league) but there will be a rockin' rugby time going on none-the-less.


So, that's Life University Superweekend.

So, this begs the original question: How could you possibly squeeze all this into one weekend?

There are so many option, you really would do best by consulting an insider. That's us! Call the recruitment office and let us walk you though the schedules and options. Plus, we need to know where you want to be so we can plan for you. You scratch our back (call us! that's it!) and we'll scratch yours (hook you up with a great weekend).

Life Recruitment Team: 770-426-2751 or email me at mflannery@life.edu!

Life Leadership Weekend Approaching

Lately, much of my energy has been focused on this event. Frankly, my favorite parts of my job are getting to be creative and getting to interact with students, and this allows my to do both, so a big "win-win" for me!

My mission was to create an event that would appeal to all prospective chiropractic students, regardless of their level of knowledge of or experience with the Chiropractic profession. I want the event to be very user friendly and interactive (not too much time with people talking at you) and allow the students to see for themselves what Life University is all about. Too much of recruitment ends up being us telling students what Life is or what Life means to us. This allows us to break out of the recruitment rut and let you see and decide for yourself!

The event is coming together beautifully, with all my key speakers being available and several groups of current students being eager to help and interact. I'm anticipating having about 150 prospective students over the three day weekend, engaging in learning, experiencing breakthrough activities, eating yummy food, and above all have a blast at Life University.

If you'd like to learn more, check out the event page at our website: (www.life.edu/Leadership_Weekend) And then... Come and Join Us!!!!

The Tipping Point ... i.e. the moment when the rest of your life clicks into place and you just KNOW

Just a quick note -

I'm on the road (again, yes, I know, it is no surprise) in Austin, TX for the Power of One Tour. At the Doctor's Reception tonight, there was a young woman there who is excited to be starting Chiropractic school this fall. She is planning on attending a school, 1/2 way across the country from where she lives, but near family.

I tell all the prospective students that I meet that I am not a 'hard sell' type of person. I truly want each person to go to the school that best fits them as an individual - that the philosophy of the school (yes, they all have a philosophy) is congruent with their own. Because isn't it easier to be successful in an environment that is 'friendly' to your values rather than to have an experience where you have to closet your beliefs or struggle to maintain your philosophy?

Anyway, this woman stated that she had chosen the school because it is close to her family. Dr. Riekeman mentioned to her that 9 out of 10 students choose a school based on location, and at the end of their first year 9 out of 10 of those students wished they had made a different choice. (You did read the above paragraph, didn't you?)

Honestly, I didn't even have to say anything to her. After she heard about the amazing things going on at Life University - highest scores in national boards, business education in the curriculum, clinics abroad, our commitment to the College Presidents Climate Commitment, etc. - she came and found me to tell me that she wanted to learn more & to visit the campus as soon as possible.

Like I said before, I'm not a 'hard sell' person. But I do have a question for you...

Are you asking the right questions to find out if the Chiropractic schools you are considering fit with your philosophy?

Why Chiropractic is Seperate & Distinct from Medicine - Philosophy

Medical Philosophy vs. Chiropractic Philosophy

By Tedd Koren, D.C.

Chiropractic and medicine disagree on what constitutes health, disease, the meaning of symptoms, and the goal of care. These are philosophical differences that go back over 2,500 years.

"But chiropractic is only about 100 years old. How could we have a conflict with medicine for 2,500 years?" I hear you say. Good question.

The answer is that our philosphical roots go way back, as does medicine. In fact two conflicting philosophies of healing - simliar to that of chiropractic and medicine - can be found from the earliest writings of Hippocrates (5th century B.C.) to the present day. The camps were referred to as the Empiricists or Vitalists and the Rationalists or Mechanists. Medical doctors or allopaths are Rationalists, while chiropractors, classical homeopaths, acupuncturists, traditional osteopaths and others are Vitalists.

This was of viewing medical history was discovered by Harris Coulter, Ph.D. one of the great medical historians of our time. In his magnum opus, Divided Legacy, Volumes 1-4, (written over a thirty year period) Coulter traces the vitalist/mechanist division as it permeated healing.

Let’s look at how vitalists and mechanists view things:

Mechanists assume the body operates like a machine whose whole is equal to the sum of its parts. "Study the body," they say, "study its cells, and its chemistry using disciples such as physics, mechanics and mathematics and the workings of the whole will be revealed."

Vitalists disagree: "Living creatures are fundamentally different from non-living creatures", they say. "The laws of physics, chemistry, mechanics, and mathematics cannot give us a complete knowledge or understanding of biological systems because the whole body is greater than the sum of its parts." Vitalists learn how the body works by studying the living body, not isolated chemicals in a test tube or by making up theories.

This philosophical difference is profound, it colors everything –

Mechanists say: "The body is a dumb machine; symptoms are always bad and must be destroyed. Fevers must be lowered, inflammations must be cooled, itching or eruptions must be suppressed, pain must be eliminated - symptoms are bad in and of themselves and must be destroyed."

Vitalists say: "The body is intelligent and reacts to the environment. Symptoms are its response to environmental stress, a sign that the body is fighting to return to it’s homeostatic balance. Symptoms must be permitted to express themselves so the body may cleanse and heal and return to normal balance."

Mechanists: "The most important thing is to diagnose the disease the patient has and then fight it. The patient’s resistance to disease is not very important."

Vitalists: "More important than diagnosing and treating disease, the individual’s innate power of resistance needs to be strengthened so it may heal."

Mechanists: Everyone who has a certain diseases has the same disease as anyone who has that disease."

Vitalists: people are chemically, emotionally, and structurally unique. When caring for a sick person, we should try to learn why that one person is sick in his or her own unique way, and we should not generalize to other people. 100 people with cancer are, if you look closely enough are really expressing 100 unique conditions that have some things in common but many things unique to their situation. The more their care is tailored to their unique needs, the more successful the results.

Mechanists: "We will ultimately know exactly how the body works, what makes it sick and how to make it healthy.

Vitalists: "The body is essentially unknowable. It has billions of parts, each doing its own thing at a fantastic rate. The body is constantly reacting to its environment and changing moment by moment. How can anyone know what is happening at any one time to all those parts? And doesn’t the very act of observing alter our results?

Rationalists or Mechanists think believe they can know the body and figure out what it needs in advance. Their procedures are often invented. Empiricists sit in awe of the body’s functions and state that the only way we can find out how healing works is see how living bodies react. Their procedures are discovered.

Tedd Koren, D.C., a 1977 graduate of Sherman . Dr. Koren can be reached on-line at TKOREN1@aol.com

Increased Opportunity = Decreased Involvement ???

I've been on the road again visiting schools in MI. (Ok, I know you're more surprised when I actually tell you that I'm in Georgia.) Most of my contact have been with advisors, and two of them in particular, although at different schools, have repeated this to me almost verbatim.


"... Unfortunately, with the number of students at our school (28,000+ at one & 40,000+ at the other), we're not very closely involved with the students and they tend not to seek us out. The internet is their easiest source of information. In some cases they come up with more information than I could have given them, and at other times, they become even more lost in the multitude of choices."

I'm not a student anymore, but I do have to research schools and try to figure out who the departments and people are who would be the most helpful in connecting me to students and students to Chiropractic. Seriously, I understand - it's a nightmare in some places. One school I visited had 6 different departments that ALL dealt with advising science-based majors or career options.

Six!

And to make matters worse, those 6 departments were completely disconnected from each other & not even aware of what services the other departments offered.

I'm not writing about this to discourage you from seeking out advising services. Exactly the opposite - when there are so many choices, you need to be even more diligent in collecting enough information to make an INFORMED DECISION.

Think about the impact that could have in all aspects of your life - your education & career choices (look back at my post on the student who saved an entire semester b/c she finally connected with one of Life's advisors), your health care options, and even the small choice of looking at the ingredients on the package before consuming the food.

Be proactive, be persistent, don't be afraid to ask, gather all the information... then decide.

So if you can't find the advisor on your campus, or you're not even on a campus, contact an Admissions Advisor at Life University. 770-426-2884

No Way to Avoid the Train if You're on the Right Track at the Right Time

Call it coincidence or lucky if that makes you more comfortable, but I'll tell you it's just the way the universe works. I was in Columbus, OH last week to visit OSU & attend the ICA Fitness Symposium. I hosted a couple of meetings for anyone interested in a Chiropractic career and visited advisors on the campus.

I met Vivian, a student at OSU, the last time I visited OSU's campus. She showed up to a drop-in Coffee & Career Talk that I hosted at Caribou Coffee. Vivian is great - she is that person who lights up the room with her excitement & passion. Through the course of her schooling, she had considered several career options, but none of them seemed to quite fit... until she found Chiropractic.

Vivian has already applied & knows her start date for the Chiropractic program at Life University, but she wanted to see me again just to say hello & find out what new & exciting things I could tell her about the campus. Unfortunately, I received a message from her saying she couldn't attend any of my events because she had just started a new job. I told her that I would check the conference schedule for the weekend & we would try to work something out.

Thursday evening, after trekking around OSU's campus for a day & a half, I arrived at the event hotel for the Fitness Symposium. I thought about curling up in my room & ordering in, but decided that the opportunity to network while eating at the hotel restaurant was a better option. I was tired, over-hungry, and not quite all together. As I approached the host stand, I found myself staring at the woman behind it.

Do you ever have that moment when you know that something or someone is familiar, but you can't quite place them because they're not in the context that you know them from?

The woman was watching me... and then we smiled at the same time. It was Vivian!

"Of all the gin joints in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine."

There is no way to avoid the train if you're on the right track at the right time.

What to expect when you're the Doctor to Be

Dear Zeek and Ophilia,

I plan on starting the DC program in a few quarters, and was wondering if you could tell me what to expect. Should I be worried? - Doctor to Be?

Dear Doctor to Be,

No doubt you’ve probably heard a lot of different things (the good, the bad, and everything in between) about the Doctor of Chiropractic program here at Life. To help alleviate some of those fears, we’ve managed to come up with a few general suggestions that might ease your transition into the program. First and foremost, put your time in! Go to class, finish assignments when they’re due, and do your best to learn the material as it’s presented to you. Waiting until the last minute to cram four or five different classes worth of material during midterm week is not only stressful but really prevents the information from being stored in your long-term memory for future classes. The Student Success Center offers tutors and supplemental instructors for the notoriously challenging courses. Also, don’t be afraid to see a professor if you feel as if you are falling behind in a class. Most of them don’t bite.

Number two. Your classmates will be your strongest allies. No one else understands exactly what you are going through. Your quarter friends will be both an emotional and academic support. If you know you are weak in a certain subject, find a friend who would be willing to study with you or organize a small study group. Study groups are a great way to relax, hang out for a bit, and get some learning in with friends (just make sure the leader of the group is motivated enough to keep everyone on task and actually knows the information!).

Number three. Upper quarter students are usually more than happy to tell you all of the horror stories of the “hard classes,” but understand that what’s difficult for one person might not be difficult for you. Just because your roommate’s girlfriend’s clinician’s roommate had trouble with anatomy doesn’t mean that you are doomed to the same fate. Try to have an optimistic outlook on the new challenges that face you, and avoid any negative expectations of impending failure simply because someone told you so.

Number four is probably one of the most overlooked. Make sure to have some fun! Take the time necessary to maintain a healthy balance between your relaxation time and the time you should be working. Your outlet can be whatever you want – mediation, taking a soothing bath, joining a sports club, or going out to the movies – just don’t forget to unwind a little. The DC curriculum is by no means easy, and if you don’t incorporate some leisure activities into your schedule, you will burn out.

And above all, take your work seriously. You will eventually be providing a healthcare service, and people will be looking to you as a doctor and educator. Your patients’ impression of you and chiropractic will rest upon your knowledge and professionalism, both of which begin right here at school. If you can keep a clear head and manage to stay on top of your tasks, there is no doubt that you will succeed.

Zeek Learly and Ophilia Paine are Life University students with absolutely no psychology credentials whatsoever.

* As printed in the February 2008 issue of Vital Source. Reprinted with permission.