This is how Walchade Joseph spends most of her mornings now that she's gone back to school. She attends Life University in Marietta where she plans to get her Doctor of Chiropractic Degree.
Walchade's first class doesn't start until 7:30 a.m., however, she likes to get there ahead of time to review notes. "I feel like I live here sometimes because I'm literally always here," she said.
With the room to herself, she likes to use all the resources available to her. Depending on which room is available, she'll make notes on the board to help her study.
After class, Walchade heads to the computers to check up on any emails that she might have. She also uses this time to take a little break before resuming her studies.
Walchade goes back to studying after her mini break. The lab will let students rent out different models they need to study.
She likes to prepare herself just like how the exams will be. "Our labs are in this same spot so I like to come and study here to make it feel like I'm taking the exam," Walchade said.
After reviewing some of the muscles on the previous model, Walchade checks out a skeleton to study. She plans to meet up with a few friends from class to help her study.
Her classmates catch up to her as she's checking her notes. "I like to use my iPad to keep things nice and organized," Walchade said.
Walchade gets to work, using her classmates as dummies to learn from. "It's always nice to know people in class so you can study together," she said.
While working on classmate Antonio, she looks over at Aaron to make sure she's doing it right. Walchade says she sometimes has trouble remembering every minute detail in her procedures.
Aaron comes over to give her some help. "You were close," Aaron said. "Just make sure your elbow is a little bit more tucked in."
Walchade goes back to try it again on her own. "A lot of what we do is hands on learning," she said.
She goes back to her iPad to review some of the things she got wrong. They got together to study for the test they have in a few hours.
Antonio and Walchade switch spots to give the other some practice. Between the three of them, they all can get turns practicing for the exam.
While Antonio works on Walchade, Aaron will call out different parts of the spine for him to touch. They try to study just like how the exams will be in order to simulate it fully.
Antonio and Walchade go over some last minute details before wrapping up for their exam. Since it's midterms, they've been busy studying for multiple exams over the last week or two.
Antonio gives it one last go before putting the spinal model away for good. He's off to take his exam.
Walchade goes to grab her gown out of the car for the exam. All the students taking exams must be in their gown as it's a hands on test rather than a written exam.
The professors will call each student in one by one to take the exam. "It's pretty nerve wracking waiting in a room with other students because you can see the anxiety on everyone's face," Walchade said.
