Spring 2025- 6 hours

 While this past week has been very chaotic, I have been enjoying the curriculum for the second semester. I can definitely see improvement in my ability to dissect scientific articles and it is gratifying to be able to understand concepts more quickly. I have been working on trying not to generalize topics in my mind, as a reoccurring theme throughout the curriculum is specificity, and the ability of the body and its pathways to modulate behavior in order to account for the environment. Prior to this program I always tried to simplify ideas to grasp them but I am learning that knowing the whole picture is usually the best way to truly learn something. For example, knowing that an agonist binds a certain receptor is important, but knowing the direction of action and effects is equally as important, it could be having the opposite effect that you assume! This can be applied to many topics from this semester, such as hypothyroidism vs hyperthyroidism, indications for estrogen vs progestin, the treatment of epilepsy and the management of insulin resistance to name a few. 

I have volunteered twice at Second Harvest Food Bank but know that I need to get quite a few more hours! I am hoping to branch out and try to volunteer at a new place/event and have been looking at opportunities for later this week!  

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