Concordia College’s Integrated Science Center
When I was in high school searching for schools to go to after graduation, I knew Concordia would be at the top of my list. Since at least 7th grade I’ve taken multiple 2.5-hour trips to Moorhead with my mom to visit her alma mater. I am now the third person in my family to attend Concordia following my mom and her sister.
Loving Learning
I chose Concordia ultimately because of financial aid and the fact it had Neuroscience. I wasn’t truly concerned about the concept of liberal learning. My understanding of liberal arts was that you were able to take multiple classes in multiple subjects, but I didn’t understand the value. My sophomore year is when I began to experience this when I took Religion 200. I came into college thinking I would major in Psychology and Neuroscience and just that. Never in a million years would I think I would enjoy taking a religion class and let alone it leading me to take on a religion minor. Attending a liberal arts institution allowed me to explore and get out of my comfort zone to find something I am passionate about. I can now feel comfortable facing new things.
Before I came to college, I struggled with school. Things were hard to understand, I couldn’t pay attention, and I didn’t enjoy learning half of the things I was taught. From elementary school on, each year I got increasingly better at academics. I went from taking remedial classes and needing an individualized education plan to being completely independent, planning my own education, and taking advanced and college level courses. But because of my past issues with school, I was scared for college. I was very fearful I would start to fail classes and drop out. Well, it happened, my worst fear came true. My freshmen year starting in fall of 2020, I had very poor grades and I failed a class. I had attributed that to the format Concordia had taken on due to COVID and I decided to carry on will school with a few back up ideas. Sure enough, I got the proper support from Concordia and my professors, and my grades did a complete 180. I had never gotten this type of support before, not even from my small school where I graduated with 70 people. That support helped me to enjoy learning in a whole new way.
Learning New Things
Once the in-person format came back, I started to get better grades and I began to enjoy school. I had this insane drive to learn and succeed. I would attribute this drive to a few classes, one of which was this class, Neurochemistry. I was slightly nervous for this class but if this institution taught me anything is to face challenges head on and accept fear. I was also certain this class would be pretty bland. The format of this class was unexpected. That is probably what saved this class from the more boring parts. This format made me excited to leave my apartment every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday around 7:30-8:00 AM. I was in control of what I wanted to learn, and it felt more collaborative than just sitting there as the student listening to the professor lecture. This class helped me become more grounded in my goal to go to graduate school. I truly would love to take this class for the rest of my life, and I never want to stop learning this material.
One skill that I improved on in this class was writing and reading. I was surprised to find myself enjoying writing and reading. I had struggled with both since I was a child, and it was very frustrating because it drained me and took up a lot of time. Reading academic articles is different than reading anything else. The assignments breaking down each section of the paper, summarizing each point, and researching things we do not understand was the main thing that helped me learn how to read these articles better. In turn, this also helped me write. Learning how to integrate articles in a way that is interesting made it more fun for me to write. Additionally, the “And But Therefore” model changed the way I write. Making science accessible has been a passion of mine for some time, but it is very limited because science can be quite boring. Having the “And But Therefore” model makes science more interesting.
Another thing I enjoyed about this class was the integration of different disciplines. It wasn’t all just neuroscience or chemistry. It was also sociology, psychology, or nutrition. This class wasn’t just about learning how signaling worked, it was also about how these things affect everyday people. Our discussions were incredibly diverse. We talked about the science of the topic for the week, but we also talked about how it may affect people in other countries, or why other countries have higher quality of life or why some countries had lower rates of Alzheimer’s disease. We had the space to talk about issues that concerned each of us, and we could apply each of our perspectives to the issue at hand.
Overall, this class and my time at Concordia helped me understand the value of my perspective in every situation. It feels like I just started school yesterday and now I only have a year left. I feel like I still have so much more to do at Concordia, but my time is almost up, and I am so excited for what this next year will bring.
