Every year in late October or early November, all the chiropractic schools from the U.S. and Canada gather in Florida to compete in sports. This event is known as the Chiropractic Games and this past weekend was the 25th anniversary of the games!

National University has two sites, one in Illinois and one in Florida, but for the Chiropractic Games we are one school and we come together to form teams for multiple sports. Last year I ran and played soccer, but this year I also played basketball! For some, this event is a chance to get away and have fun, for others, like myself, it is an opportunity to compete and a reason to train all year.

The weekend was filled with exercise, competition, camaraderie, and enjoyment above all else. I loved meeting our colleagues from Illinois and fellow chiropractic students from other schools. I made a lot of new friends from NUHS Illinois but also from schools like NYCC, Parker, Palmer, Sherman, and Logan. Events like this are a great reminder that we are all in this together, though we are from different schools, we are the future of the profession and may be working with one another after we graduate.

The first day I ran the 5k with a goal of running under 20 minutes but fell just shy of my goal and ran the 5k in 20 minutes and 16 seconds. I went on to play three soccer games, scoring a goal in our second game, and I finished the first day by playing a basketball game. Later that night we went to a local bar with a live band and danced all night. Students from all the schools were there and we had a great time!

The following day I ran a two-mile race in just over 13 minutes, then played a soccer game, and finished with a basketball game. Afterwards, we enjoyed some food and drinks at the beach bar at the hotel. It was an awesome weekend and a nice break from all the stresses of school and life. It was only a two and a half hour drive away for NUHS Florida students, a much closer distance and shorter travel time than almost every other school. We drove back on Sunday afternoon to get ready for class on Monday.

The weekend was amazing, I made friends and memories that will last a lifetime, and I look forward to next year, which will be my last chiropractic games!

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