Hometown girl Kendra Taiclet was excited to chase her dream of becoming a chiropractor, but now that she’s finished her doctorate, she’s eagerly come home to Iola.
Taiclet earned her degree at Cleveland University in Overland Park. The accomplishment is a “huge relief.”
It’s little wonder, as Taiclet said the worst part of chiropractic school was “spending millions of hours studying” over the course of almost four years, including taking around 250 exams.
Now she’s just “ready to get to work and start helping people,” though she’s already spent significant time working with the public, families and students while amassing a noteworthy number of clinical hours — 640, for anyone who’s counting.
During these intensive hours, Taiclet pointed out, “you kind of put your hand in everything so that you’re prepared for it.”
Before heading to Cleveland U., Taiclet attended Pittsburg State University, where she finished summa cum laude with a major in exercise science and a minor in chemistry.
Throughout the course of her academic training, Taiclet said her eyes had really been opened to everything it was possible to learn, and was impressed by “how much work ethic it takes” to complete both undergraduate and graduate school.
Before college, Taiclet attended Iola High School, from which she graduated in 2012, and made a name for herself playing volleyball, basketball and track.
“I loved wearing the Iola Fillies uniform,” she said, and was happy to see so many familiar faces when she returned for the recent Fillies celebration night.
She also played basketball for a season at Allen Community College.
According to Taiclet, she “always knew in the back of her mind” that she’d return to Iola, and is “proud of where [she] came from.”
“I’m excited to come back,” she emphasized.
When asked why she wanted to return to Iola more specifically, Taiclet said she is “very close” to her family, and was confident that the “community would welcome [her] back.”
And she was right; since after being back in the area for only a short time, “it was like I never left,” she said.
This has been the case, especially, due to reuniting with friends, and already knowing many people from the community.
“Everyone’s willing to help out here,” she added, and expressed an interest in getting involved with community affairs herself.
