As my time at Concordia comes to a close, I can’t help but reflect on the past four years and be truly grateful for the experience I have had. I became a part of a family like no other where talking about corn was “cool” and knowing people around every corner you turned was the norm. I had the ability to become close with my professors and build life long relationships.
Looking at neurochemistry as my capstone course, I have learned in a new way that I hadn’t experienced until this class. This course opened my eyes even more than they already were to the equality between students and professors. I was able to fully apply what I learned in this course to my outside relationships and life as a whole. My friends and family found it very interesting when I would come back from class every day and describe various neurological disorders and their causes because the information was so applicable.
I truly believe my education at Concordia has fully provided me with a fantastic liberal arts education and that “BREW” (Becoming Responsibly Engaged in the World) has been instilled in me.
The five goals of liberal arts learning at Concordia are: 1. Instill a love for learning 2. Develop foundational skills and transferable intellectual capacities 3. Develop an understanding of disciplinary, interdisciplinary, and intercultural perspectives and their connections 4. Cultivate an examined cultural, ethical, physical and spiritual self-understanding 5. Encourage responsible participation in the world
Neurochemistry has fully enveloped each of these five goals.
Every class period, as I mentioned previously, I would immediately tell a friend or family member about what I had learned and constantly desired to know more and gain a better understanding of each topic. Another aspect of this course I enjoyed was being able to apply what I had learned in neurochemistry to the anatomy course to accumulate more understanding and hear about other factors that were not discussed in the other course. As a whole, it allowed me to put the puzzle pieces together and make connections to obtain more knowledge on the subject area.
If I had the choice to do college all over, there isn’t anything I would change about it. Now that I am wanting to move onto dental school, I believe that I have an advantage by having the cultural awareness and the course work from every major. These classes have enhanced my learning by broadening my knowledge, thinking in different ways, and above all, finding an appreciation for every individual’s talents and not putting a hierarchy on anyone. But most importantly, I have learned how to become responsibly engaged in the world, not because thats what I’ve been told to do, but rather, because it is what I want to do.
The importance of liberal arts education
