Neurochemistry has been one of my favorite classes that I have taken in my college career. Although this is technically a science class, it covers the full spectrum of liberal learning that ultimately provides students with a strong foundation to excel in many different environments. This class is based around neurochemical signaling pathways, which I truly found fascinating. Although there are many methods used to understand how the body works and what goes wrong in different diseases, using signaling as a mode of understanding these processes allows for both very broad and also very specific interpretations.
This class has showed me that it is important to look at problems from diverse perspectives in order to reach the underlying issues. It is important to look at issues from a top-down approach as well as a bottom-up approach. Looking at behaviors from the molecular signaling level will allow for a particular understanding, and looking at the same topic from a global or societal perspective may lead you to completely different ideas. Value comes from looking at an issue from both perspectives to find tangible, actionable steps that can produce microscopic and macroscopic benefits.
I truly enjoyed hearing all of my classmates’ opinions and perspectives on all of the topics that were covered. Hearing other people’s ideas in such an in-depth way really deepened my understanding of our class topics. The discussions in this class provided an environment where diverse perspective can be shared that can help us have deeper understanding of why these topics are important. The perspectives of my classmates deepened my scientific knowledge as well as my social, ethical, and cultural knowledge.
While it may seem that covering such a wide scope of information would provide a disjointed education, I completely disagree. In my opinion, taking a topic and analyzing its microscopic and macroscopic implications really helps establish the importance of liberal education. When students are able to realize that chemistry is valuable outside of the lab, then they can integrate new modes of thinking that would not be possible otherwise. Integrating social, ethical, and cultural considerations into scientific discussion can provide new perspectives and allow for more relevant approaches to science.
Although I have only been at Concordia for a short time compared to my classmates, this class integrates many of the competencies that I have previously learned. This class provides a succinct format for understanding some of the tiniest details of life as well as some of life’s most complex problems. We cover many complex topics ranging from which ions are being moved through the membrane of a neuron following a concussion to how the public education system can be improved for diverse populations. These topics allow us to utilize a wide range of skills such as reading scientific literature, writing about complex topics, explaining our perspectives and opinions, and looking at concepts from different perspectives.
As a future medical professional, the skill of taking complex scientific and medical topics and breaking them down into understandable bits of information is extremely valuable to me. This is not only valuable for my own education and understanding of topics, but also for my ability to explain diseases and treatments to my patients. Over this semester I believe that my ability to take in, simplify, and explain complex neurochemical topics has greatly improved.
Even though I am not yet graduating, I know that the concepts we covered in this class will benefit my future career regardless of what field I end up in. This class has showed me that it is important to look at problems from diverse perspectives in order to get to the underlying issues. It is important to look at issues from a top-down approach as well as a bottom-up approach. Looking at behaviors from the molecular signaling level will allow for a particular understanding, and looking at the same topic from a global or societal perspective may lead you to completely different ideas. Value comes from looking at an issue from both perspectives to find tangible, actionable steps that can produce microscopic and macroscopic benefits.
