Rebecca Harris
HOMETOWN: Portland, Oregon
What was your first experience with chiropractic?
When I was a practice player for the Oregon State volleyball team, there was a chiropractor contracted to adjust our players and staff, which was pretty sweet. I got adjusted a couple of times but I didn’t notice a ton of difference because being sore is something that your life is about when you’re an athlete.
I didn’t really get into chiropractic until I met Aaron Sanchez, a Life West recruiter, at a grad fair. He randomly pulled me from a crowd of students and said, “Have you ever thought about being a chiropractor? You could be a good chiropractor.”
And I was like, “What?”
Aaron did such a good job explaining how chiropractic heals the body from the inside-out. He basically gave me everything I was looking for when it came to what I wanted in a career.
What inspired you to become a chiropractor?
My undergraduate degree is in kinesiology, and during your senior year, you’re required to do an internship. At the time, I was really interested in cardiac rehabilitation because I liked working with people and I wanted to teach people that by living healthfully, they could restore their bodies.
I interned at a cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation center but absolutely hated it. When you see people in cardiac rehab, as terrible as it sounds, they are on their way out the door. It was sad to be working hard to teach people what they could do to be healthy while they were on the verge of death. At the time, teaching health to these patients was more about “take your medication” or “do this one type of exercise, but not too hard.”
It was hard to see people dying, literally, in front of me. It was a very outside-in perspective, and I felt almost useless in my job. I wasn’t passionate about it like I thought I was going to be.
Then I learned about chiropractic and the power it has to really teach people to be healthy from the inside out. It was such a cool shift to go from barely keeping people alive to really showing people what life is. When I found chiropractic, I realized it was probably the best change that I could have asked for.
How do you like to be a mentor for your peers?
One thing I’ve learned, especially coming from the cardiac rehab background, is that you can tell somebody all you want how to do something or what to do or when to do it, but the most powerful way you can teach someone is by being the example.
