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April: What do you mean it's over?

Total 2nd semester service hours as of 5/2: 22


I’ve told a lot of people this week that I have never been great with recognizing milestones. The best example of this is when I graduated from college, most of my peers jetted off on vacations with family and friends or spent a great deal of the surrounding days celebrating their accomplishments. When asked my feelings about graduating at the Saturday ceremony, I said “It’s exciting, but I’m more excited about going back to work on Monday”. These milestones never feel huge to me because I see them all as steps toward the ultimate goal of becoming a physician. 


That said, it feels pretty dang cool to be able to say I just completed all my coursework for my Masters in Pharmacology. I have to remind myself daily that this is not something to be taken for granted, but rather is a huge accomplishment that, per Dr. McLachlan, “only 8% of the world has”. Plus, I can’t express enough gratitude for how amazing this program has been. It has given me a wealth of knowledge that will be useful in my journey toward a career in medicine. I can’t hear a drug name mentioned in a TV show or walk down the aisles at Target without the wheels in my head churning, thinking of the mechanisms and indications of these medications.


There have been many other lessons learned aside from the discrete course content. Over these two semesters, I have gained confidence in interpreting clinical research and then going beyond the papers to examine implications of these studies in regard to health disparities and their impact on the population. I have become more aware, curious, and outspoken about such health disparities and issues of environmental injustice. Most importantly, starting this program last August prompted a move to New Orleans that might have been the best thing for me at that time. Getting out into the community through organizations such as Basket of Hope, Hagar’s House/ReFresh Market, and Glass Half Full has allowed me to experience the community of this city and give back in varied ways. 


I finally made it out to the big warehouse that Glass Half Full has now that they no longer have their smaller uptown location. My volunteer shift flew by as I helped direct people to sort their glass by color, hauled recycle bins full of glass through the warehouse, and teamed up with another volunteer to spray down some bins (the bottom of those things can get gross!). I am really looking forward to doing some more volunteering with them.






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