ePortfolio September Blog Response

 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...

 This past Monday (October 25, 2021) I volunteered in the Community Kitchen at the Second Harvest Food Bank. This non-profit organization produces thousands of meals per week for disaster relief victims, senior citizens, after-school Kids Cafe and Summer Feeding programs. For approximately 3 hours (8-11), we packed roughly 1200 snack packs that would be sent to children participating in after-school programs. While I got to help my local kids in the greater New Orleans area, I also got to meet some of the nearby residents that are not affiliated with Tulane. Since I am constantly meeting people in our various courses that are all Tulane students and staff, it was eye-opening to get some experience with people who actually grew up in this area.  In the last few weeks, we have dug even deeper into the Pharmacology curriculum. Now that we are back from the storm with very little disruptions, I feel like everyone has settled in more or less and has gotten more comfortable with the...

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...