December ePortfolio Blog

 TOTAL COMMUNITY SERVICE HOURS: 14


As we are closing up to what has been a great semester, I would like to reflect on the amazing opportunities I have had to complete my service hours. A few weeks ago, some of my fellow peers and I got together for 3 hours to create more of the Holiday cards that we also did the previous month. Knowing that these cards were going to be sent to the same orphanage that the cards from last month were sent to really helped me embark on a continuous process that was changing the lives of many local Louisiana children. While doing this was very moving, I also got to spend additional time outside of class with my classmates which helped us grow our relationships even further. I really enjoyed being able to do community service with my classmates because it really helped build a strong bond while providing for the needs of others. 

This week I spent approximately 6 hours at the Second Harvest Food Bank volunteering in their community kitchen. We spent the mornings preparing Holiday themed meals that were being sent to both children in their after-school programs and elderly adults at their assisted-living homes. As I was preparing meals, I got the opportunity to work along-side many local New Orleans residents. This was an eye-opening process since I got to hear about their stories and life experiences while creating a strong connection with them. Coming from Maryland, the culture is very different than from it is here so conversing with locals is always a powerful way to immerse myself in the culture of New Orleans. 

In conclusion, the final module on GI/Neoplasia was probably my most favorite module of the semester. The reason for this is that I found the Cancer Chemotherapy content the most fascinating. This information, in my opinion, was connected the most to medicine. I think that Cancer is a very large topic in the medical field since it is relevant to so many peoples lives across the entire globe. With this being said, it seemed to me that this information is probably the most important to learn about as I continue and develop my career in medicine. I am very grateful for this awesome first semester and am very excited to finish up strong on the semester to come. 


Happy Holidays,

Ben

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

November ePortfolio Blog

 On November 23rd, some of my classmates and I spent 2 hours preparing Holiday/Thanksgiving cards that were later sent to the Louisiana Methodist Children's Home in Mandeville. Personally, this activity was meaningful to me because Thanksgiving is not only one of my favorite Holidays but is about emphasizing the importance of a community. One of the most important characteristics about the city of New Orleans is that this feeling is especially strong here compared to other cities around the country. Preparing the Thanksgiving cards meant that we were able to wish young children a warm and happy Holidays even though they may feel like they lacked a so-called community. Another important component that was incorporated in this Thanksgiving card project was the fact that I got to be with my classmates in a non-studious setting. This helped me build relationships and grow stronger connections with my fellow peers. In the upcoming month, I am excited to continue growing my sense of comm
Read more

April ePortfolio Blog

Total hours for the semester: 15 Over the past several weeks on two separate occasions, I volunteered with Second Harvest Community Food Bank in Elmwood, LA completing 6 service hours. For one of the two shifts I did, my duties consisted of packing meals that were going to be sent to New Orleans residents that live in elderly-assisted living communities as well as small children in their after-school programs. Working alongside other volunteers, mostly New-Orleans natives, is always a time to enjoy. Always worried that they won't be accepting of me since I have not been here for as long of a time as them, that has never been the case. Part of what I love about New Orleans is the large family that lives in it. I can most definitely conclude that New Orleans is the most welcoming city in America in my opinion. Considering the fact that I am originally from Washington, DC and living there for the first 18 years of my life, I can definitely tell the differences in the community-sense a
Read more

September ePortfolio Blog

As we were slowly transitioning into normalcy and into the post-Covid world by starting in-person classes up, we were interrupted with the rapid unfolding of Hurricane Ida. During the first week of class, it was nice to not only return to in-person classes but also to begin meeting my peers and faculty that I will get to know throughout the upcoming school year. The introduction of the course curriculum for the first few days helped me get excited to dive into Pharmacology. More specifically, during that first week, we had an introduction to the general principles and mechanisms that embody the majority of pharmacological processes. Like discusses in the first week, several enzymes and drug-receptor interactions were highlighted that would later form the basic foundation of pharmacological studies.  While most of us had to return home as a result of Hurricane Ida knocking out power through the greater New Orleans area, it definitely was considered to be an abrupt disruption in what was
Read more