Megan Walker ePortfolio

 January hours: 1.5 Total spring hours: 1.5 This month was a hard adjustment with being put on zoom again for an extended amount of time. I am so excited to go back to in person classes and see all of my classmates again. Being stuck in Mandeville with my parents has been quite a time but words can't express how ready I am to be back. The second week back two of my classmates and I picked up and went to the beach so we wouldn't be stuck at home any longer. It was a nice getaway but getting back into school mode was difficult for me. Especially with studying for the MCAT its hard to split up my time but its manageable.  This month I volunteered at the animal shelter, I had to do the training and orientation which was emotional. I have a huge soft spot for homeless dogs especially pitbulls, which occupied 70% of the shelter, so I had a hard time leaving there.  Most of my dogs have been rescues so I felt like that was a good volunteer opportunity for me but it was heartbrea...

December: 2 hours Cumulative: 12 hours I can’t believe we are already half way through the program. I’ve really enjoyed this program so far it’s bittersweet knowing we only have a few months left. It’s weird to think about how we all became friends so fast and will be parting ways relatively soon.  We just learned about GI and cancer pharmacology which was really interesting. I worked at an endoscopy center for 2 years and so I was relatively familiar with some of the things we learned about like NSAIDs and H.Pylori in relation to stomach ulcers. About 6 months ago one of my good friends found out her dad has stage 4 liver cancer and as we were learning about cancer therapy my friend was giving me updates on what the doctors were saying about him and treatment. It was such a coincidence with the timing but it was somewhat comforting knowing what was going on in a medical sense.  This month for community service Alex and I helped raise money for Our Lady of the Lake in Baton Ro...

November hours: 5 Fall cumulative hours: 10  Earlier this month my friend and classmate, Uma, was kind enough to teach our class how to create these little cards that we made for children in foster homes. Another great classmate, Crystal, was able to get the cards delivered to the children in time for Thanksgiving. The cards were so much fun to make and my classmates and I had so much fun putting them together. We plan on getting together and making them again before Christmas and giving them to another set of kids. In elementary school and middle school my class would always decorate cards for other kids in foster homes or for the old folks homes so it was sweet to be old enough to understand what we were doing then and then taking the time now to do that again. It was a really a fun time and a nice break for our brains and a good bonding experience. In our most recent module we learned about the renal and the pulmonary system and pharmacology. I have always had a hard time follow...

 Semester hours completed: 5/12 Earlier this month, a few classmates and I found out about the opportunity to go help the Red Cross in Baton Rouge put together care packages and prepare disaster shelter kits for people impacted by hurricane Ida. This opportunity had a bit of a deeper meaning for me as I can remember my family talking about all the great things the Red Cross was able to do for our family. I've always enjoyed doing community service projects but this one definitely hit a little closer to home. It was a good feeling to be able to give back to the same foundation that was so giving when my family needed help. I'm looking forward to doing more community service in the future and seeing how our class can positively impact our community one small step at a time.  As for the rest of October, I have really enjoyed the material in the ANS & CV system module but I'm really excited to learn about the cardiovascular system. The very first surgery I ever shadowed was...

The Friday before hurricane Ida hit, my family, aside from my brother and dad, evacuated last minute. My nephew was still on oxygen, so I knew my mom and sister-in-law would have a hard time with his equipment with just them two. I was pretty resistant to leaving just because I wanted to stay back and get as much studying done as I could. Plus, having been born and raised in New Orleans, I figured I would be fine because there was no way it would be worse than Katrina, right? I ended up going anyway just to lighten the stress load off of my sister-in-law and mom but also since my brother stayed back I knew he felt more comfortable with me going. I quickly threw some random clothes in a bag since we were leaving for “just a few days”. I soon realized that was not the case, but was very thankful I evacuated with my family.   After a few days, every person we met in line, in the elevator, etc. was an evacuee. Each person was just as concerned as the next, asking about what damage...