I have been wanting to start writing down thoughts for the past four years, so here is the start of something that is beneficial to the readers and an outlet for me.  I have wanted tell my story for some time as I feel that people coming out of chiropractic school are ill prepared for what the working environment is really like and how much of a struggle starting your own practice or buying one can really be.  This blog will document: how I got to where I am, the struggles that come along with practice, struggling with student loans and some interesting tidbits in practice.

The first thing I would like to do is introduce myself, you could just go read the about me page on the website but I hope to delve a little deeper into where I come from, my background and how I got to where I am now.

I was born and raised in Valley, NE about 15 minutes outside of Omaha on Hwy 275.  I had a fairly normal upbringing in a middle class family.  My dad worked in Omaha ever since I can remember and my mother is a retired music teacher.  I was blessed with a very solid educational background at a public school, my teachers were very instrumental in my educational guidance, but sports were my real passion throughout school.  I played basketball and baseball throughout high school and eventually accepted a baseball scholarship to play at UNK, which is what ultimately brought me to Kearney, NE. 

While attending UNK, I met my wife, Kristina Rupp, from North Platte and we have basically be inseparable since we were 19 years old (it’s really strange writing that, I don’t feel that old).  I majored in Exercise Science and Chemistry from UNK.  Baseball was my life the first two years of school, at which point it was determined that my love for the game had diminished and that I was actually on pace to graduate close to a year early.  I ended up graduating in 3.5 years from UNK. 

While taking Pre-Med classes at UNK, I ended up doing some shadowing and felt that chiropractic would fit my desire to treat the public with their health concerns and the lifestyle that I would eventually like to lead.  While researching chiropractic schools, I knew that I wanted to stay in the Midwest but also wanted a quality evidence based education.  I ended up actually only applying to National University of Health Sciences in Lombard, IL as I felt that this would fit my personality and my desire to live in a larger city. 

Three weeks after I graduated from UNK, I moved to Lombard.  My parents and Kristina helped me move but Kristina ended up having to go back to Kearney to finish up another year and a half of nursing school.  I will never forget orientation day at National.  Roughly 50 people that have never met each other, sitting in a room all of us anticipating what is to come.(You end up getting over those nerves, as some of my best friends and colleagues are the people that I spent 3.5 years with in Lombard).

If I recall, there was a group of 7 people that started and finished together and I can honestly say that we keep up regularly, go to each other weddings, children are starting to trickle into the equation and I consider them to be colleagues and resources, besides being good friends.  We stressed, studied, bickered, complained, led and followed while in school. 

When I was in undergrad, I shadowed a doctor which ultimately led to a part time job in college and went off to chiropractic school with the understanding that I would ultimately go back and work in that clinic.  I never really had to look or think about future employment, which we will get to later, but ended up being a mistake in my case.  With roughly a year left in school, I ended up working the morning shift on the National campus, most people wanted the afternoon session, city clinic, Salvation Army clinic or hell some had the option of a Florida clinic.  Dr. Grant Iannelli was my clinician and I consider him one of few people that helped shape how I continue to practice to this day, not only is he a great human being and is one hell of a chiropractor.

My friends make fun of me, as I believe I moved back to Kearney one day after I graduated into a house that Kristina bought without me ever seeing (we still live in that house, so it was a really good choice).  In the future posts, I would like to dive into my first year of practice, starting my own practice, operating a satellite office and eventually purchasing a large practice. 

If there is anyone that has any questions please feel free to contact me.