I drove home to Maryland for the Thanksgiving break, and I am so glad I did! I originally planned on staying on campus, especially since our final exams start the Monday after Thanksgiving, but I decided my sanity was important to survive 14 pending final exams. 

This trimester, I decided to go full-track for Phase II. That put me with over 30 credits, and to be honest, I didn’t know if I had it in me. I have made it to week 12, and am so glad I stuck it out!  It has definitely been challenging, but I also believe it will be worth it when I get to graduate in August of 2021 instead of December. I don’t think I would be able to get any of my family out here if I was graduating in a December month! (Have I mentioned how cold it is here?!) 

Apparently, Chicago weather has gone on a record-breaking spree since I moved here. First with the polar vortex last winter, and now, with record-breaking snow fall on Halloween. Prior to this year, the only recorded snow in the city on Halloween was in , when the city recorded one tenth (0.1) of an inch. We definitely broke that this year, and we had two to three inches of snow appear in Lombard! Literally the night before the snow started, I took Lily for a walk and the fall leaves were so pretty I had to take her picture in front of them. The next morning, I took a picture of another tree on campus that was dropping some leaves on the fresh snow. It was really pretty.

It has been an eventful couple of weeks.  While in the middle of midterms, our campus had a few big events.  I’ll start with World Spine Day. The Student American Chiropractic Association (SACA) hosted an event during lunch that had different carnival type games, such as pin the sacrum on the spine, and limbo with a skeletal leg.  Functional Neuro Club tested the cerebellum.  It was really fun, and they had prizes as well.  Each student received a ticket for the raffle every time they participated in one of the games.

We have reached that time of year again; it is Naturopathic Medicine Week! To kick it off, I will reiterate the 6 basic principles of naturopathic medicine, highlighting the couple that are most important to me. 

I have lived on campus for about two years. I have absolutely loved it, and greatly appreciate the fact that National University offers on campus student housing. When I first decided to come to school here, I was hoping I would live on campus. Then I found out there was a waiting list and became worried that I wouldn’t have the opportunity. Luckily, there was a two-bedroom apartment available for me. I really loved living in a two-bedroom, but decided to move into a studio apartment this trimester to save a little money. I didn’t want to get a roommate, so this was a good solution.

Between each trimester we get a few weeks off for a break. Normally I anxiously head back to Maryland, but since I moved over break, I had to stay local. I still live on campus, but in a different apartment (I’ll post about it in the future…I love living on campus)! My family ended up surprising me in Chicago! It was so fun having some of them visit me, and having them here to help me move.

Last trimester, I made a blog post about week 14 being the absolute worst week of the trimester. At the time, it definitely felt that way! Now that I am finished with anatomy courses, and therefore all of the anatomy practical exams, week 14 isn’t so bad! For starters, some classes are cancelled to give us time to study for finals. I will add that the only classes that are cancelled are the ones for which we were able to finish the material. If there was still additional material to learn, the professor is still having class.

We are wrapping up the final few weeks of Phase 1, which is the basic sciences courses. This is another exciting milestone we are about to pass.

This was my second 4^th of July holiday living in Illinois, and while I hope I make it out to Navy Pier for Fire Works before I leave, I have a great view of the fireworks from my on-campus apartment. I live in Lincoln Hall, and I can literally see three firework shows from the comfort of my air-conditioned, mosquito-free, comfy couch!