March '25 (10hrs month/10hrs total)

 As this month comes to a close, the more imminent the end of the program seems to be. This month we completed our modules for medical pharmacology and principles of pharmacology. We ended with the psychopharmacology module which, like neuropharmacology, is one of my biggest medical interests. We learned about different mental disorders such as depression, anxiety, bipolar and schizophrenia and different ways to treat these ailments, or rather, ease their symptoms. I could definitely feel more involvement from our class as well as our professors for these topics, as many of us know someone who has experienced one or more of the disorders or experienced the symptoms ourselves. It was nice to connect with some members of the program in a closer way while also being able to understand the known mechanisms of the disorders and treatments. Currently, I'm reading The Body Keeps The Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk, M.D. and this was the perfect unit to pair it with. Many of the topics discussed in the book were discussed in all of our classes included MP, Principles, Neuropharm, AND endocrine!!!! It's so cool to me when personal lives intersect with what we are learning, it somehow makes everything worth more. As the April showers of studying and finals rain upon us ☔⛈☂🌂, I only think of the flowers that May will bring 🌷🌸🌹🌺🌻🌼🌺

This month I also spent a weekend volunteering at New Orleans Book Fest! This is an annual FREE festival where authors from around the world come for talk backs, book signings and more! I had never heard of this festival, but I am an avid reader. I volunteered as an usher to help guest in and out of events! Volunteering here is really important to me because I think that more people in New Orleans should have access to a variety of books and the people writing them. As a black woman growing up in a majority white school district, I never learned or even discovered most black authors and/or novels until I attended an HBCU and continuing into my adulthood. I think this is a resource that should be promoted to more children who experience similar situations regarding their exposure to literature. I met Bernice L. McFadden and listened to her talk about her book First Born Girls, I was also able to get my FREE copy signed! This was such an inspiring moment for me and even made me want to write a book ha ;) If I am here next year, I will 100% be volunteering there again.