Well, here you have it, one of what I am sure are many accounts of what people are experiencing while sheltering at home during a COVID-19 outbreak. The clinic closed its doors midway through last week, and all classes have been moved into an online format.

Somewhere in the past few weeks, the half-way point in my chiropractic clinical internship experience came and went. The weather is becoming warm again, and by the end of summer, I will be able to call myself Dr. Sarah.

With all the craziness of taking three board exams during my next and final term at National, this may have been my last tri-mixer. I know I have written about Tri-Mixer before. It’s an event designed to bring about camaraderie among all of the different classes and programs. This term, a group of students all met up at Downers Sand Club for games, snacks, and camaraderie. I brought the kiddos with me that night, and it warmed my heart to see them be included in the fun with all of the "big kids."

Food is a huge part of any culture; it brings people together and holds special meaning. This is why one of the biggest challenges in getting patients to eat under a new set of rules is to find ways for them to do so while still being in line with their culture. Now, it is a lot easier to do so in this day and age, where it has become very trendy to make foods that are labeled as "gluten-free" or "paleo." People can now have things that fit their diets even when time commitments and lack of cooking talents could have stopped them. However, some of these food items might be cost-prohibitive to certain families, and this is where a little research can go a long way.

Well, that sure was a long break, I feel like it has been ages since I wrote. I use the word "break" lightly as I was in clinic for the duration of the time between the end of last trimester and now. Graduation was awesome, I can even explain how good it felt to complete some part of all that I have been working toward, and I can only guess at how I will feel when this is all finished later this year!

It's the end of another term. This trimester is a little bit more special than most, you see, last Friday was my last MSAc class ever, and next Thursday will be my final, final exam. I have spent a lot of time tying up loose ends in the previous few weeks. On top of all the things, I am graduating with my Masters of Science in Acupuncture this week…Yay! The feeling is surreal, I mean, I am not done yet, I will still be here at school for another eight months as I finish up the Chiropractic program, but I feel like I have been working toward my goals for so long that I am not sure how I feel about completing one of them. The best part of all of this is that I will be able to spend time with my family in just a few short weeks. Mom guilt has been a big part of my life as I was taking time from them to pursue my own goals, but I'm starting to see the result of all of the work, and I am excited about our futures.

It's the holiday season, and if you have left you home anytime in the last few weeks, I am sure that you have been inundated with messages about thankfulness and giving. Some of these messages come from a consumer-driven place, but leaving that aside, giving to others, and practicing gratitude can be a huge benefit to your mental and emotional health. Some studies show that focusing on what you are grateful for can result in a myriad of health-related changes such as lowering blood pressure, improved sleep, lower incidence of depression, and even weight loss (the thought being that the patients in the study were better able to determine when they were satiated).  

This trimester specifically has had a lot of "really useful for life" coursework, learning about things like risk management and business ethics. As one of the requirements for class this trimester, we are supposed to have our business plan evaluated by someone in the field of business, accounting, or banking to judge whether or not it is financially sound. I should add for those of you who have not started your student journey or would like to know we have going on in the curriculum for our professional programs, that by this point in the game, we already have a few business classes under our belts.

Because of this, I have a collection of documents from class assignments that all have some purpose for life outside of school. It has now been a year since I first put together my business and marketing plans, and let me tell you, looking at them now, they say almost nothing about the type of practice that I want to create. I cannot believe how much the idea of what I want to do has changed in such a short time. Being in the clinic has had the most influence on my change of heart; it's funny what a little bit of experience can do!

This past week I got to go on a short trip to a fabulous and exotic location: Wisconsin. I promise you that it was way more exciting than it sounds! As students, we get a lot of information on different supplement companies and the products that they carry; this was one of those opportunities. Standard Process, a whole food nutritional supplement company, invited students out to visit its manufacturing plant and farming operation, so that we could all get a behind the scenes peek into what goes into making their products. 

Well, I haven't written about food in a bit, and there has been so much cooking going on at home lately that I felt that I would share with you all. As we are entering the fall, my crop share is providing me with different vegetables, so I have been playing around with delicata, acorn, and spaghetti squash.