– By Emma Harbage –
Emma Harbage
All my life I have been involved in elite sport. First it was gymnastics … then somehow rugby! I have been playing rugby since I was 17 years old, and a decade later, I love it as much as the day I started. For many, chiropractic college helps students find themselves and their power, but for me it was rugby that helped me find myself, and then rugby is what lead me to chiropractic college at Life West.
During my rugby career, I represented England in both Rugby 7s and 15s. I then spent the next few years playing premiership Rugby in England, Canada and in the USA. Being an athlete has given me such an awesome life! It’s provided so much fun, competition, and the fundamentals for succeeding in life. Rugby has taught me to train hard, even while nobody is watching. Then come game day, I get to have fun and display my hard work. For me it’s the exact same mindset for my future as a Chiropractor. The studying, adjusting drills, seminars, late nights, these are all training for the “Big Game” or “Championship”. It’s all training for my future practice and my future patients. All the fine details matter and all the hours count.
I am so grateful to have rugby teach me these lessons and to discipline me the way it has. Often, I am asked, “how do you fit it all in?”. For me, it’s a choice. It’s how it’s always been and it’s all I really know! Having rugby at Life West is like my anchor, my home. The Women’s and Men’s teams are family and the support from them and our director, Adriaan Feris, is everything to me. Rugby keeps me on track and reminds me that the finished product doesn’t happen overnight. Rugby keeps me motivated and gives me family.
In addition to staying fit and conditioned, rugby gives me many other opportunities such as leadership, confidence, and body awareness, while training gives me strength, power, and speed; funny enough, some of the same principles we talk about when it comes to training our chiropractic adjustments. I think of myself as an athlete of chiropractic. When it comes to training for chiropractic, you must train your body and your mind, and to be disciplined and committed to yourself and your team.
Life West gives me my two biggest passions and for that I am truly grateful. Thank you to my Rugby Family for keeping me accountable and motivated to be the best I can be … you are a huge part of my development as a Doctor of Chiropractic and as a rugby player.
“Emma is an exemplary student athlete; her effort, commitment and performance in all areas of her life here at Life West illustrate a determination to be the very best version of herself. As a rugby player, she is fearless and switches into “beast-mode” easily – again, just another example of her ability to give it her all.”
-Adriaan Ferris (Athletics Director) –