Posts

Santa, Sirens, and Service!

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Monthly Community Service Hours Completed: December 5 hours Cumulative Fall Semester Hours Completed: 12 hours      This holiday season began with a spark as I had the opportunity to volunteer with St. George Fire Department (SGFD) of Baton Rouge. Each year, SGFD participates in a Christmas parade in Baton Rouge where their fire trucks lead the way for volunteers of St. Vincent De Paul to collect nonperishable food items and toys from parade-goers to be donated to underprivileged families in the community. I truly felt the warmth of Christmas being able to serve our first-responders as they serve our community.      Station 62, for years, has been the busiest station in SGFD’s district. Apart from their regular station duties, the crews often have little time to make their station feel remotely festive. In preparation for the parade this past Saturday, I decorated station 62 with Christmas décor and prepped the truck with the supplies needed for the parade....

HARVESTING HELP

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Monthly Community Service Hours Completed: November 5.5 hours Cumulative Fall Semester Hours Completed: 7 hours      Thanksgiving week, for many, consists of family gatherings and plates overfilled with turkey and all of the holiday fixings. But across the country and specifically in New Orleans, many find themselves without basic necessities and starving. During this thanksgiving break, I had the privilege of working two shifts a  volunteer at the Second Harvest Food Bank of New Orleans.       My role involved packaging boxes filled with nonperishable foods, which are distributed to families in the community. Initially, these boxes were developed for elderly people that cannot leave their home nor have access to groceries. The process was simple yet at times, involved strenuous labor. Working alongside other volunteers, we were lined up down a long table with each section consisting of specific food items. Much like a conveyor belt, we placed our...

MONSTER MODULES

Monthly Community Service Hours Completed: October 0 hours Cumulative Fall Semester Hours Completed: 1.5 hours      October, a month filled with candy, pumpkins, and fright. Often having a stomach ache from snacking on way too many ghost-shaped peanut butter cups, your arm getting sore after carving the biggest pumpkin you could find, and feeling your heart race while watching that classic Halloween horror film. So many “feels” accompany this season and after completing the neuromuscular, autonomic nervous system, and cardiovascular pharmacology modules, I feel as though I have a better understanding of what I am experiencing and how my body responds to the “spooky season” environment.         This month’s course load was heavy considering the complexity of each module; however, beginning with muscle and progressing through to cardiac conduction, it laid a good foundation that ended with the full understanding of the processes that allow our bodie...

Beads, Bracelets, and Bands!

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Monthly Community Service Hours Completed: September 1.5 hours Cumulative Fall Semester Hours Completed: 1.5 hours      September 15th was a fun-filled, all-day event hosted by the Menard family to raise money for their sweet Dylan who is battling childhood leukemia. Multiple bands and various children’s activities such as fun jumps and face painting drew people into Pelican to Mars in Baton Rouge to help cover the medical expenses for Josie and Dylan Menard as they navigate this trying time in their life. While monetary donations are needed and appreciated, the Menard family also finds great comfort in art and expression of self as many of them are musicians and artists local to the community. My contribution to this event was making “Dylan” bracelets for her family and friends to wear to show their support.        I truly enjoyed spending the time stringing each bead—especially her favorite colors pink and purple—knowing that wearing these bracelets ...