December 14, 2012 — On Dec. 1, 2012 New York Chiropractic College (NYCC) held commencement exercises in its Standard Process Health and Fitness Center. Louis Sportelli, DC, president of the NCMIC Group, delivered the commencement address. Lillian M. Ford, DC, was honored with a moment of silence for her commitment and dedication to chiropractic education before degrees were conferred on 95 Doctors of Chiropractic.
John Rosa, DC, chair-elect of the NYCC Board of Trustees, informed the assembled graduates that “the best is yet to come.”
In his address, Louis Sportelli, DC, a graduate of Palmer College of Chiropractic and someone who has held many leadership roles throughout his professional life, likened the students’ excitement to the exhilaration he felt at his own graduation in 1962. Quoting Winston Churchill’s “We shape our buildings and then they shape us,” Sportelli discussed how the world we create, in turn, shapes us. He cited Cherry Turkle’s new book, Alone Together, and her observation that technology has become the architect of our intimacies — an illusion of companionship without the intimacy.
“Technology promises to let us do anything from anywhere with anyone, but that very same technology also drains us as we try to do everything from everywhere,” observed Sportelli. Relentless connection is leading us all to solitude and “as technology ramps up, our emotional lives ramp down.” Since people are yearning for real connectedness and since chiropractors participate in a high-touch profession — the most fundamental of connections — he emphasized the important role filled by chiropractic’s therapeutic touch.
Sportelli closed with his observations regarding happiness, noting that it is an emotion relative to the person experiencing it. “The best judge of how happy you are is you, and happiness is always connected to deeper feelings of meaning and purpose.” With that, he exhorted the new doctors to serve, to heal, to mentor, to achieve success, and to lead the profession to new heights: “May your happiness be extraordinary!”
Source: New York Chiropractic College, nycc.edu
