September Blog: The First Big Step

     

Monthly Community Service Hours: 0 Hours

Cumulative Fall Semester Service Hours: 0 Hours

One month into Tulane's Pharmacology Program I can say I have finally found my rhythm. The start of the semester has been a mixture of excitement and nervousness. Being back at school has allowed me to reestablish my study habits and elevate them to the graduate school level. These study habits were important when studying for our most recent module on infectious diseases. This module was the most interesting and most challenging material we had so far due to the amount of drugs we had to be familiar with. So far the biggest obstacle this month was hearing news of a hurricane approaching the day before we take our exams. The days before the exams consisted of preparing for the upcoming hurricane and also managing time to adequately study for the exams that would take place the day prior to hurricane landfall.  I truly admire the welcoming and supportive learning environment that Tulane’s faculty created during this challenging time. This challenge offered opportunities to adapt and find balance in preparing for both the storm and school and ultimately prepared us for other challenges that may come in the future. 

Aside from gradually transitioning back into a studying environment, starting next month I hope to continue volunteering at St. Michael Special School and Second Harvest Food Bank. During my undergraduate and postgraduate years, I began volunteering at St. Michael Special School twice a week, assisting two amazing coaches during physical education class and again during summer camp. Although I am unable to help during the school hours due to graduate school classes, I hope to assist the staff at St. Michael Special School in upcoming afterschool activities. Along with volunteering at St. Michael Special School, I plan to assist at The Riley Foods Kitchen at Second Harvest Food Bank assisting the kitchen staff with meal preparations to help produce meals for the community. Second Harvest Food Bank is an organization that aims to provide public relief in South Louisiana by providing services like disaster relief, food access, and other public assistance. Please consider volunteering at Second Harvest Food Bank at no-hungry.org and donating to St. Michael Special School to help provide an environment where students with developmental disabilities are able to grow. Thank you for reading! Be sure to come back for more updates.

  

Kayla Nguyen