This will be my last blog post as a member of the 2015 neurochemistry class with Dr. Mach. The class has been a great experience for me and it has developed many important skills that I will use in my future. As a capstone class, this class was supposed to cap off my education at Concordia which I think it did. Although I still have one semester at Concordia, this class was the culmination of all the skills, and knowledge I had gained here at Concordia. It allowed me to apply what I knew to very difficult research papers and to go even further as to teaching this material to my class mates. If I was asked to do this in my freshmen year at Concordia, there would have been no chance. So just seeing how far I have come in my education is really cool for me, and neurochemistry kind of capped that realization off for me. I would just like to say a few more things, and those would be that of the goals for liberal learning here at Concordia.
First, Concordia has instilled a love for learning in me. I used to dislike studying and doing homework, as a matter of fact I dreaded it. Once I got to Concordia and started to find interest in the classes I was taking, I developed this love for learning. In my senior year at Concordia I realized who much I had really developed this love for learning, I actually enjoyed studying and the challenge of trying to understand difficult topics. I think it came to a point where I realized how important all of this was and that it was not a chore but only to gain more knowledge and make me better. Due to this I developed that love for learning and this was very apparent in the neurochemistry.
Second, Concordia helped me develop foundational skills and transferable intellectual capabilities. Over the years at Concordia, I was able to take a wide range of classes because it is a liberal arts college and encourages this. Due to this I developed foundational skills and also transferable intellectual capabilities. I now am able to apply these skills and intellectual capabilities to many classes and therefore am able to excel.
Third, Concordia helped me develop an understanding of disciplinary, interdisciplinary and intercultural perspectives and their connections. Concordia helped me by doing this by offering classes that looked at other cultures and how they function. It is very important to look at intercultural perspectives and Concordia offered me many opportunities to take classes with professors that were very knowledgeable in those areas. It is important that I am not focused on just what is in front of me and let other cultures fall out of sight and out of mind. Concordia has allowed me to acknowledge these other areas and see how they are connected which is a very important skill.
Fourth, Concordia has helped cultivate an examined cultural, ethical, physical and spiritual self-understanding. Concordia has done this in many ways but I think it is just the community that they have created for students here. When I came to Concordia I thought I had an idea of who I am as a person but that really changed for me as I went through the years at Concordia. I questioned my religion and beliefs by taking religion classes, and I questioned what I wanted to do with my life many times due to other classes. All of these factors played in to helping me gained a self understanding of myself which is very important for my future. At times it was scary, but it all worked out and I couldn’t be happier.
Fifth, Concordia encourages responsible participation in the world. Concordia always encourages BREW which is becoming responsibly engaged in the world. They think that we can all make a difference here at Concordia and that idea has now been planted in my mind. That is why I choose a career in the medical field and I know that is where I can become engaged in the world and make a difference. Neurochemistry helped me become engaged in the world by writing blog posts every week and raising awareness for neurological diseases. This capstone was a really cool experience in that way and it really strengthened my skills in that way.
Overall this capstone experience was great for me because it brought all my skills learned at Concordia together and helped me use them to attack difficult topics. I was able to understand difficult topics, teach them, discuss them, and then write about them. By doing this I became more responsibly engaged in the world and was able to cap off everything I have gained at Concordia. I know my time here isn’t done yet but the end is year and I am ready to go out into the world and make a difference.
Capping off the semester: Neurochemistry
