Baby Steps

Welcome to my Independent Study and Mentorship journey for the 2017-2018 school year. The coming year holds an eternal sense of accomplishment, yet multiple obstacles towards defining a pathway towards my career.

Weekly Report 08/21/2017 to 08/25/2017

"Don't be afraid of change because it is leading you to new beginning" - Joyce Meyer

This past week has been an outlet to a new beginning, a fresh start, and a pathway to instill in myself opportunities for exploration. From day one, my career choice has been evident as a healthcare career. Only somewhat recently have I solidified an interest in neurosurgery or neuroplasticity and more specifically Alzheimer's. This past week, Ms. Julie Martin Leslie’s presentation appealed in a variety of ways. The content that stuck out the most was her intent to motivates us to carry out our ambitions and not be scared of “dreaming big” because in reality people will inherently doubt your ambitions, especially when they consist of “changing people’s lives” or “making the world a better place”. She said that many of us question ourselves by asking “what if I fall?” and she responded with “well, what if you fly.” This particular statement really made me reevaluate the things that I had stepped back from doing because I thought it was not a realistic aspiration, however, this is the year to change that and take a bigger leap that can be further tailored to specificities including the time span that I have or the resources that are available.

The day that we entered this classroom, I had a mental layout of what I personally want from this program, however, in order to accomplish any of my goals, it is important that I change my perspective. A challenge that always comes across is the motivation to stay positive, especially as juniors when we have entered the school with the mindset of being overloaded with work. Through these few days of ISM I realized that this year is to take my passion to new heights and that can only be done with an optimistic and motivated viewpoint. So, essentially the primary goal for the following week is to have a positive outlook on the school year and take everything as an opportunity to learn, regardless of the tediousness.

Over the summer, I researched under a Dr. Namrata Singh, a doctoral student professor, on the topic of Alzheimer’s and her approaches towards combating Alzheimer’s prior to the preclinical stage. Last week, I spent some time researching with her and attaining greater insight into my topic of study by learning the function of magnesium in the Kreb's cycle and its effects on Alzheimer’s. Working with her has given me a variety of insights into Alzheimer’s that I had never approached before and a new focus of inquiry as some topics seemed of greater interest than others. Her analysis of components related to neurodegenerative diseases give me an opportunity to learn something different at every weekly meeting. For example, last week our topics transitioned from magnesium to the foundational story of neuroscience, the story of the iron rod that pierced through Phineas Gage’s brain. Thus, this week has been one of a foundational exploration into my topic of study and the bylaws of ISM in order to make this year as successful as possible.