More than 84 students earned their doctor of chiropractic degrees during the 74th commencement of Life Chiropractic College West, held in the Standard Process Assembly Hall on Friday, Dec. 7, at the Hayward campus. The graduation ceremony conferred degrees on graduates from the Fall 2018 class and those who walked early from the Winter 2019 class.
The ceremony began with the singing of the National Anthem by Life West staff member Shawna Darling, with an assist from the Brassview Quintet.
Dr. Jim Hawkins, Life West Alumni Ambassador and Master of Ceremonies for the commencement, introduced Life West President Dr. Ron Oberstein to the stage. He welcomed the friends and family of the graduates as well as the Board of Regents President Dr. Jimmy Nanda, and special guests Dr. Jeanne Ohm, Dr. Mark Kimes, Dr. Steven Silk, Mr. Cameron Hastings, and Dr. Angel Ochoa-Rea to the special occasion.
Fall 2018 valedictorian Anja Huq and the Winter 2019 valedictorian Ashley Davies also took the stage, and each presented a riveting speech to their peers, family and friends in attendance. Dr. Oberstein also recognized Claire Kilgos and Karan Seth for their salutatorian honors.
Anja Hua, left, and Ashley Davies speak to the audience. Head over to the Life West Facebook page for our full graduation photo album.
Dr. Oberstein also introduced Dr. Cliff Hardick, Executive Chair of MaxLiving, as the commencement speaker for the evening. Dr. Hardick has a private practice in London, Ontario and has been in practice for nearly 50 years. He is a 1969 graduate of Logan Chiropractic College and served as President of the College of Chiropractors of Ontario from 2015 to 2017.
Dr. Cliff Hardick shares his years of wisdom and experience with the graduating class.
Dr. Oberstein honored Federico Angel and Kelsey Bjola with the Presidential Award. The Presidential Award is presented to a student from each quarter who showed an all-around ability to thrive in the areas of academic performance, leadership, participation, clinical excellence and chiropractic philosophy.
The graduation culminated when Dr. Oberstein presented the graduates with their degrees as they walked the stage, and faculty member Dr. Pamela McBride performed the ceremonial turning of the doctoral hood. The graduates recited the chiropractic oath and flipped their tassel from right to left, solidifying their completion of chiropractic college. Life West applauds them as they prepare to Give, Do, Love and Serve the world as doctors of chiropractic.
Summer 2018
Kelsey Hudson**
Luis Cruz-Marin
Fall 2018
Danielle Amari+**
Federico Angel**
Jordan Brand
Jessica Bourke
Michael Cheung*
Evan Chin
Sarena Creggett
Hannah Emmett
Patricia Guzman Williams
Anja Huq***
Matthew Hux**
Vivian Kan
Amit Khimji**
Claire Kilgos+**
Yoonjip Kim*
Christian McCallum**
Nicholas Nelson**
Daryn Rainer+**
Dacy Mari Ricardo
Sean Riley
Rehana Sadiq
BreAnne Sargent+*
Moses Villarreal
Jeremy Wroten*
Laura Zelko*
Winter 2018
Dallas Ausmus*
Jacob Bartelt*
Kelsey Bjola+**
Vincent Blincoe
John Bulmer
John Bynum*
Anthony Carrillo
Chan Choi*
Brandan Chretien***
Nogol Daneshvar
Ashley Davies***
Surdeep Dhaliwal*
Bradley Finlayson
Katayoun Firouz
Megan Frias*
Hector Garcia
Amninder Gill
Brian Glynn**
Didar Grewal
Tyler Harrison
Christine Jarvis**
Shane Kenning***
Balraj Khakh***
Rachael Knopf*
Kristine Loharun+*
Acacia Mason
Eric McQueston*
Kevin Moc**
Luke Nikitow*
Peyton O’Connor+*
Michael Parzych
Puja Patel*
Karen Pazera*
Jamie Pestana**
Eric Pinto
Richard Poulsen*
Alexandra Powers**
Christopher Pruter
Joseph Pulitano
Peter Quigley**
Anthony Quintos**
Jimmy Ramil
Melissa Rodriguez*
Tyler Sargent*
Lauren Schreiber
Anthony Schuller**
David Sedghi
Rachel Selnick
Hojin Seo
Karan Seth***
Cedric Stewart*
Nadzeya Stokes
Nicole Strasko*
Anne Thompson
Matthew Wittwer*
Rafael Zamora**
Honors Distinction
*Cum Laude 3.25 – 3.49 GPA; **Magna Cum Laude 3.5 – 3.74 GPA; ***Summa Cum Laude 3.75 – 4.00 GPA
+Student Champion For Life