AAAOM Welcomes Viktoriya Neverov

I am currently a student at the University of California, Davis, finishing my last two quarters and eagerly awaiting my graduation. I am majoring in history and classics. To the outside observer, it might seem a little baffling to imagine me interning for the AAAOM. Not only is alternative medicine something I do not study, but my 'event management position also has nothing to do with my two majors. Yet it is my diligent interest in the origin of ideas that got me involved with this organization. Studying history, I became interested in ancient history. Studying ancient history fueled my interest in ancient languages. Finally, studying ancient languages attracted me to ancient and natural remedies. I further developed an interest in the business side of alternative and natural medicine, hence my interest in and involvement with AAAOM.

I was always sick as a child, constantly troubled by asthma, allergies, bronchitis, and more. At the same time my awareness of natural remedies was growing, I decided it was time to strengthen my immune system. As an adult I began experimenting with health diets. After much research, I chose the raw vegan diet as my experiment and refused all cooked foods, meat, and dairy products. Of course, my family scoffed in the beginning—I was the first vegan they had laid eyes upon! Once the allergies started their vicious attack that spring, however, they noticed that I—once the biggest allergy victim of them all—did not have so much as a sniffle. They, too, became believers in what I was practicing.

As my beliefs in natural and alternative medicine intensified, I decided to follow my curiosity, which ultimately led me to the AAAOM. So here I am, interning for the American Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, learning more than I ever thought I would and loving every minute of it.

When I started interning at AAAOM, my first assignment was to create a comparison chart of past Expo event contracts. Contracting, as I was told, is a corner stone in Event Management – which, although is common sense, never occurred to me. So immediately I began learning about the world of business, marketing and event management. Currently, as the 2008 Expo approaches, I am being trained to help with conference registration– which will be my job at the convention this October. At the same time, most of my current focus is centered on the 2009 Exposition. I will be working with staff to facilitate the speaker selection; compiling contracts and developing the conference brochure. I will also be involved in the organization and the marketing of an "Acupuncture Awareness Day" at the California State Capitol and a "Career Development Day" for graduating students of acupuncture, sponsorships and donations. I will also complete any other assignment, perhaps not mentioned here, spontaneously arising, which this internship will have trained me to accomplish.

As mentioned above, I have already learned a lot – and I have only been interning at this organization for a little over three weeks. My awareness of alternative medicine is expanding, while my passion for it keeps growing. I am very thankful to be given this opportunity to work with such knowledgeable staff and to be introduced to the business world in such an amenable way.