Saturday, November 3, 2012

NSC Day #1

I'm in beautiful Crystal City, VA, just outside of Washington D.C, literally just outside of DC and attending the 2012 National Student Conclave.  The host hotel, the Hyatt Regency Crystal City, is doubling as the conference center and has so far been a great venue.

Today began in the mid morning with a keynote by Steve Pepper.   The talk focused on passion.  He talked about alot of his life and what had brought him to where he is today.   It was really good; a great way to start the conference, made me think alot about when I was coaching and the power of living with intention.  Here were the big takeaway questions/thoughts.
  1. What kind of splash do I/you want to make in the world?   Where do you want to be in 30 years?   What story do you want to tell?   Your life, my life will tell a story, and every day you wake, you are writing the pages of your story.   There's no eraser, so what are you writing? 
  2. Passion: Remember the importance of passion.   We can all chase the $ and if that's what you want to do that's fine, but never, never, never sacrifice your heart, your passion for anything.
  3. Appreciate others, and make sure you let them know.   Everyone.   Your wife, the door man, the waitress that serves you, your PTA, your accountant, your patient; let others know that you appreciate them.   Be specific and honest. \
The 2nd session was on Sports PT.   Erik Meira, PT, SCS, CSCS and owner of Black Diamond Physical Therapy gave a presentation on the science and art of physicl therapy as it relates to Sports and Sports Medicine.    He did a nice job of deliniating the difference between Sports PT and orthopedic PT which I'd never clearly understood.    Basically Ortho is LB and Spine, while Sports tends to be Hip, Knee and more distal joints from there.  He talked about the settings where sports PT's practice and how to get involved in the Sports Section of the APTA.

Conclusion:
Today was about passion for me.   It was  reminder that even while I'm in school I need to be thinking about what my passion is and looking for ways to engage there.    I got jazzed to start thinking about what I'd like to do and where I want to be in 10, 15, 20 years.