When I first signed up for Neurochemistry I really had no idea what the class was going to be like. At first I assumed it was going to be somewhat similar to the other chemistry classes I have taken at Concordia, but then I heard a little more about it from a peer. The class was going to be more discussion based, where we spend time reading recent articles and discuss them with our class. I was apprehensive at first, as science is something that I feel as though I am better at simply “doing” than “discussing.” Despite this, throughout this semester I have learned that discussing science is maybe the most important aspect. What’s the point of learning anything if you can’t make sense of what it really means and share that with others?
Even if I don’t remember any of the science-y details from this semester, I can walk away knowing I learned something much more valuable. I learned the importance of preparation. I learned that you can’t be scared to voice what you don’t understand. About halfway through the semester, our class realized that something wasn’t quite right. We were all so quiet on the days we should be the loudest. Mondays were our day to come in after reading an article and share with the class what parts we did not understand. Our class faced multiple issues with this. One was that many did not take the time to really read the article. These articles were somewhat short, but very dense. In order to really understand what was going on, and thus be able to ask questions, you had to spend hours reading just a few pages. Many of us did not take the time to do this. On top of that, even when we did read and did have questions, many of those in our class were timid on sharing our questions in class. I think a lot of us were nervous of what others might think of us, afraid that we weren’t “smart” enough. What most of us didn’t realize was that most of the class felt the exact same way. Through this class I learned that if you truly try your best in preparation (in any subject), then no question is a dumb question.
After discussing what we did not understand from the article on Mondays, we were all sent away with something to research. After some digging, we came back on Wednesdays, and were to teach our classmates what we learned. This put us in a position that no other class at Concordia has done for me. Once a week, we were the teachers. Our professor did nothing different from us on these days. This challenged our entire class, making us realize the importance of teaching and how helpful it is in really understanding a topic yourself. After learning from each other, we spent our Friday class periods simply discussing. Sometimes discussing the science, but mostly discussing that week’s topic at large, and what it meant for the world that we live in.
Concordia College loves its catchphrase, BREW (Becoming Responsibly Engaged in the World.) This class was a huge help in preparing us to BREW after graduation. Looking especially at science classes, it is easy to get lost in the content and not understand how the material affects our lives at large. By looking at topics such as obesity, Alzheimer’s, Diabetes, Autism, ALS, and concussions, we were able to not only decipher the science behind these topics, but what this science means for our lives. What can we do to help prevent these diseases? How can we help people who already have them? Is there hope for the future? Not only learning about these disease, but figuring out how we can help, seems to hit at the very definition of BREW. This class helped me realize how science can change our bodies and our world, and through this even helped me narrow my options for a future career.
My Neurochem Experience
