As a December graduate, this is my last college assignment ever. It feels strange writing that. It also feels strange thinking about how I won’t be back next semester. Knowing that, I have started to reflect on my time in college. Did I do everything I wanted to do? Did I live up to Concordia’s ideas? Did I BREW?
I believe I did. I feel like I now have a love for learning. I’ve developed foundational skills. I understand perspectives in not only my discipline but others as well. I have a better understanding of who I am as a person.
Neurochemistry was the last class I needed to complete my Neuroscience major. It was my Capstone. Because of that, I knew it might be a challenging course. I figured I would struggle a lot and would end up hating the class. That wasn’t the case. I actually really enjoyed neurochemistry. I thought the set-up of the class, being almost entirely discussion, wouldn’t be beneficial to my learning. Turns out I was wrong. Having to read different journal articles each week and discuss them throughout the week caused me to think in a different way than I normally did. This type of structure caused me to think more critically. I had to not only try to understand what was going on in the papers, but also make connections to other things I learned in both this class and other classes.
This course was very reading intensive. Every week there was a new scientific journal article to read. This helped me sharpen my journal-reading skills and prepare me for my future. Going into the research field, I will definitely need to know how to effectively read a scientific journal article and make connections to what I already know and to my research. Having to write weekly blog posts will also help me in my future career as a researcher. The blog posts forced me to not only dig deep into what I was reading, but I also learned how to turn my complex thoughts about the articles into concise, easily readable sentences.
If I was to highlight a skill that I have improved upon this semester, even just a little bit, it would be leadership. I am a naturally quiet and shy person. I’ve never thought of myself as a leader. This semester, in this class specifically, I believe I have improved that skill. This semester I was required to lead discussions twice and had to talk about a specific topic that only I had researched at least once every week.
I don’t think a course like this would be offered at a non-liberal arts school. That is what’s great about Concordia. It is a liberal arts college. Learning at a liberal arts school has taught me how to think about the big picture. It has taught me how to think about others and how my actions impact them. It has taught me how to make connections, not only in academics, but in social networks as well.
I believe I have BREW-ed. I have become responsibly engaged in the world. I have a better understanding of not only the world around me, but also myself.
Thank you, Concordia staff and fellow Cobbers, it was a great three and half years.
