While there, the Cleveland group had the opportunity to interact with the peers, as well as chiropractors and industry professionals, all while seeking to advance the profession. The keynote speaker was Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), who chairs the Senate Special Committee on Aging, and is also the senior ranking member of the Armed Services Committee. He spoke about the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and the role of chiropractors moving forward in the new health care landscape. To that end, those who attended the conference were informed on new opportunities in Medicare, military and veteran’s health care and other federal initiatives. The gathering allowed Cleveland students to see chiropractic beyond the local level as they lobbied their legislators on behalf of the profession.

Brian Asbury is the CU-KC Student American Chiropractic Association (SACA) president. He said the Cleveland contingent spoke to 23 legislators about chiropractic legislation. The group from CU-KC represented students from a region from the Midwest that included students from Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma. The political aspects of the trip, along with an exceptional group of speakers made NCLC a memorable event for Asbury, who called it “a privilege” to attend.

“No other conference gives students the opportunity to work so closely alongside chiropractic’s leaders, representing not only their college, but also the chiropractic profession as a whole,” Asbury said. “These students did it well! On behalf of SACA, I want to thank the Cleveland Chiropractic College Student Council, Dr. Carl Cleveland III and the CCC Alumni Association for their continued support of our students attending this amazing conference.”

Although still early in the doctor of chiropractic program at Cleveland, Brandon Hill had heard about NCLC from other students in the program. They shared stories about the importance of what takes place there, and Hill knew he had to experience it for himself. It opened his eyes about what is needed to aid the discipline.

“Before the trip to NCLC, I was one of the many students who thought that things would get better because chiropractic is evolving and people are getting away from drugs,” Hill said. “This trip helped me realize that every student and doctor must do their part to help this profession grow and become respected throughout the health care field.”

As the winner of the “SACA’s Got Talent” competition on campus, Danielle Hill was set for an encore performance at NCLC. She won the CU-KC competition with a saxophone solo and offered a strong showing in Washington, D.C. However, she was battling against equally talented individuals from the other chiropractic institutions and was unable to make the top three. The eventual winner of the national competition was a student who performed an original song that focused on chiropractic and the 50th anniversary of the American Chiropractic Association.

Many things made the trip something that won’t soon be forgotten; bad weather, cancelled flights and luggage lost and then found again, were all things that marred their travel. But after all that, there were many positive reminders of their time at NCLC. So much so, that Hill was unable to recall only one memorable thing from the trip.

“Meeting with the Congressman was great, the evening socials with chiropractic students from different colleges was entertaining, listening to speakers talk about chiropractic was amazing, listening to Senators and Congressmen give speeches about why they supported chiropractic was unforgettable, and of course I had free time to check out the museums and learn about the history of this amazing country,” Hill said. “Overall, it was all memorable!”

Making the trip from CU-KC were Lyndsay Andrews, Brian Asbury, Michael Brucks, Angie Conway, Seth Cordell, Michelle Dick, Jason Fechter, Brandon Hill, Danielle Hill, Emily Hollingsworth, Britton Horton, Hollee Kirchner, Andrew Maloy, Chris Miller, Jannise Nathaniel, Thao Nguyen, Christin Phillips, Anthony Sala, Marci Schilling, Morgan Schoeling, Daniel Sounakhen, Caitlin Walter, Jessica Williams and Jacquelyn Zitterkopf.