October 2016

It’s Halloween, and another month has passed. Our classes have shifted from cardiovascular to renal pharmacology, and we are steadily moving into the final blocks of the semester.

Outside of classes, I have continued my volunteer work within New Orleans, both with SciHigh and Habitat for Humanity. The pre-calculus classes I normally tutor have been busy with holidays and testing this month, but I was able to spend one afternoon judging group projects at a school-wide science fair. I primarily judged the projects from the environmental science classes, and it was exciting to see the enthusiasm and effort the students put into their projects. Mostly, I was very impressed by some of the unique and creative experiments they developed. Overall, it was a fun experience to see the students applying some of their classwork to practical situations and a great way to stay involved with the school.

I also spent another day working with Habitat for Humanity, where our team was working towards stripping paint and repainting, as well as performing minor repairs, on an older home in the Treme neighborhood of New Orleans. The weather was little cooler than the last time I volunteered with Habitat; however, due to the threat of lead exposure from the paint, our team had to be completely protected with full body suits, respirators, and goggles. It was warm, to say the least. But, we made significant progress on the house and even had a chance to meet and speak with some of the homeowner’s family. It was a great opportunity, and their expressed gratitude made the hard work well worth it.

-SciHigh: 2 hours

-Habitat for Humanity: 8 hours

-Total Fall Semester: 33.5 hours