It’s the beginning of a new semester, the fall semester, and there are a lot of exciting things about this semester, and the coming year, to share.

First of all, a year after moving to Boulder, I feel totally grounded and supported by community and friends here. I would say that the past year, I was perhaps a bit more focused and getting grounded in Boulder and finding community and building friendships than I was on school, and now I feel ready to reinvest more of my energy into learning which is really exciting. This semester also marks the beginning of my last of year of school which feels a bit different – I feel like I’m wrapping things up, gleaning as much of the knowledge and wisdom as I can and preparing to be out there as an acupuncturist and herbalist treating people on my own. This also means I’m thinking about a business plan and starting to explore my options – more on that to come.

This semester seems to mark a shift for me, from focus on acupuncture, to a focus on herbs and herbal medicine. I have more herbally focused classes, one of my clinics is devoted solely to prescribing herbs, and I started interning at the Great Wave Pharmacy here in Boulder. The internship (which I started this week) is really wonderful. Michael, the founder and owner of the pharmacy, is a really wonderful person and I’m super excited about spending more time with the herbs. So do expect to see more posts about herbs (and pictures too!)

That said, there are some exciting developments for me on the acupuncture front as well. Namely, being part of a pilot community acupuncture clinic at our school. For those who aren’t familiar, community acupuncture (CA) is based on the idea that for acupuncture to be more accessible, it must be more affordable, and the way to do that is to treat several people an hour, usually in one large open space with a number of reclining chairs in a circle. There’s a “we’re all in this together” feeling and the ability to help people who wouldn’t be able to afford several $60-$120 treatments (for more check out the People’s Organization for Community Acupuncture). Now, there are some criticisms and pros and cons for CA, but that’s a whole other conversation. The point is, that I now have the opportunity to experiment with this treatment model while in school, to gain some personal hands on experience, and find out if it’s right for me.

Now that’s just a brief overview, we’ll see how much time I’m able to put aside throughout the semester, for writing, and what comes up!