Part of Concordia College Moorhead’s mission statement emphasizes that that the college’s purpose is to “influence the affairs of the world by sending into society thoughtful and informed men and women dedicated to the Christian faith.” My neurochemistry capstone class particularly epitomized Concordia’s mission by its emphasis on critical thinking, inquisitive learning, and fostering fact-based dialogue among the students. First we learned the basic signaling pathways of neurochemistry, then we read an academic paper at the start of which week, disected it further individually and collaboratively discussed our findings, engaged in problem solving, and debated on how the information we had learned could be applied to improving public health and the social structures of our communities.
Being a liberal arts institution, Concordia has set goals for liberal learning, which include first: to instill a love for learning, second: to develop foundational skills and transferable intellectual capacities, third: to develop an understanding of disciplinary, interdisciplinary and intercultural perspectives and their connections, fourth: to cultivate an examined cultural, ethical, physical and spiritual self-understanding, and fifth: to encourage responsible participation in the world. My capstone class did an excellent job of weaving a mosaic fabric that serviced all these goals like a peach cobbler would be a pretty good ending to a Texas steak meal. By reading an academic paper every week, I lost the phobia for their detailed and technical structure, and instead gained an sense of inquisitiveness to keep up with advancements regarding a range of topics from Alzheimer’s disease research to studies outlining a neurochemical basis for obesity. Given the classes structure of incorporating biology, chemistry, neuroscience, psychology, sociology, and public health disciplines into our learning, I felt that most of the concepts were transferable to my future endeavors, being that I am an aspiring healthcare professional. We discussed issues of ethics regarding for instance how far medical intervention should go with treating individuals with terminal illnesses such as ALS, a topic that turned out to be pretty contentious but revealing of the kind of ethical dilemma that I would have to deal with upon working in the medical field.
Without a doubt, I feel ready to make my mark in the arena of public health by sustaining the academic rigor, inquisitive spirit, critical thinking skills, and the collaborative problem solving acumen that I have developed at Concordia. With that I say, Soli Deo gloria!
The Icing on the Cake: My Neurochemistry Capstone Class Experience
