FREEEEDOM! #braveheartvoice

The first semester of the pharmacology program is completed!! I am half way through the tunnel. Pretty soon I will see the light!! I can't believe how much I have learned. I am not sure if I have anymore room in my brain.


TOTAL volunteer hours: 35 hrs

HABITAT - Sept 6th (8hrs)
KIPP -  Sept 18&24 (5hrs) Oct 3rd (2hrs) Oct 4th (5hrs) Oct 8th (3hrs) Oct 28th (4hrs) Nov 17th (4hrs) Nov 20 (4hrs)

Semester almost over

The first semester of the program is almost to a finish. Only 1 more block exam is left and it is unbelievably crazy how fast the time has gone. The weather is becoming much cooler and at times chilly. I truly love it.

I honestly have no idea where all the time went these past four months. This is the first time I have ever lived somewhere on my own so far away from where I grew up and it has been a great experience. At times, I still cannot believe that I am in New Orleans, I often think to myself, "Who would have thought that I ever would do this? How did I even manage this?" I still think about it, but now I am not as shocked about being in New Orleans. I am very glad I made the choice to do this program. It was very scary, nerve racking even, but I try not to ever let the feeling of fear stop me, and I am glad I did not. I am also very much thankful for the help I did receive from my family in helping me get here because I do not think I ever imagined myself moving so far away and I do not know how I would have managed everything by myself.

The days, the weeks are a blur; they happened so quickly. I have participated in an intramural soccer team this semester with some of my fellow classmates, probably one of the most fun activities I have done so far in the program. I have continued to volunteer at KIPP helping the teachers and staff around the school. I try to go as often as possible. The children are adorable with their shy little smiles and they say hi to me whenever I help out. I helped with their Fall Festival and had to count individually 800 candy corns for their "guess how many jar." Never have I counted one-by-one so high and handled so many candies. I most likely messed up a few times. There were just so many candy corns. They were everywhere! I helped out right before Thanksgiving break while they were having a book fair. It brought me back to the days when I was in elementary school. Showing my mom all the books that I wanted, and asking for money so I could buy them all. One-by-one the classes would roam around the books, deciding on what they would buy. I completely forgot about the book fairs that my school had when I was a child, and it was nice to see the students walk around excited to buy something.

Something else that happened right before Thanksgiving break is my family visited me for the weekend. I had them all go to the seminar with me. The seminar was about Mineralocorticoid Receptor Antagonists. The seminar talked a bit about hypertension and my grandmother found it interesting because she has hypertension. I asked her about her medication and I actually knew about all of them. It was an awesome feeling to really understand what she was taking and why. I know I am learning many things here, but that experience showed my how much I really am learning. I am getting something out of being in this program. I knew I would be, but now I know just how much...

The program is practically halfway over. I did not expect that to happen so quickly.


Volunteer Hours: 15 hrs (Total 35)
     October 8: 1pm - 4pm
     October 28: 9am - 1pm
     November 17: 1pm - 5pm
     November 20: 11am - 3pm

Paint Party!

I have started volunteering at KIPP Primary School. The school is really nice, and one thing I really like about the school, is that they name each classroom by a college. For instance, some of the classroom names are: Tulane, LSU,  and Xavier. Each classroom has its own college. I think it is really great for the kids to be exposed to colleges so young. When I was growing up, I did not really know the names of any college (only that my mom wanted me to go to college) and these kids are not only exposed to colleges in Louisiana, but through out the country. The school really emphasizes growth and going further with school. It really feels like a positive atmosphere for the children.

Some of the stuff I have been doing so far is help the teachers in preparing their projects or supplies for the students. This weekend I helped prepare and paint some of the columns in the school to liven it up. There were many volunteers, but one stood out to me. This little girl came with her mom and sister to help paint the columns, and she ended up having me carry her everywhere! She was the cutest thing ever, and by the end of the day she wouldn't let me go. I had to carry her to the front door when her mom and sister were leaving, and slowly peel her off of me. She was unbelievably sweet and helpful. Her and her sister kept wanting to help everyone paint.

Here are a few pictures of us preparing to paint.

On Friday, Vihas, Evy, and I had to tape around the perimeters of the columns on the first floor of the school and place plastic to protect the floors from paint. Saturday was the "paint party!"

Kayla and I having some pizza and salad.

Volunteer: 12hrs
      5 hrs total (9/18 and 9/24)
      2 hrs 10/3
      5 hrs 10/4

Manual Labor!!!

I volunteered for Habitat for Humanity on September 6th and man was it hard work!

We had to clear out any cement pieces left in the dirt then level out all the dirt so they could later plant grass. We also had to go under the house and level everything out to the foundation to prevent any water pools for mosquitos. It was the coolest place to be at the time, so I did not complain, but oh man! My back was sore the next day. It was a work out for sure. Once everything was said and done we surprisingly had a lot to show for all our hard work. I want to say the whole yard was leveled and cleared and cleaned up. We finished a lot of touch up stuff inside the house and outside the house. The group picture of us I think says it all, "we are dirty and we accomplished a lot!"  It was a great experience and really fun doing it with everyone in the class, we all were hot and tired, but we were also all hanging out with friends and having a great time helping out. :)

Volunteer Hours: 8 hrs (9/6/14)

Catching up on experiences

So I have been in New Orleans for now about two months. My first day arriving I was definitely cultured shocked. Coming from San Diego I did not know what to expect and knowing how catastrophic Hurricane Katrina was, I wondered how much had been fixed or rebuilt. I remember thinking "wow, this is where I am going to live for the next year..." I think maybe after a week or two I started to feel like this place could totally be home. I still get confused with the roads at time, but this place is such a cultured gem. I brought my car with me and even though I do not travel too far and wide from the city of New Orleans I feel like I am becoming a master of the road! Oh and I love the style of the houses here it makes me want to buy or remodel a house (if and when I buy one) in the spanish/french style. They are just too cute! I still think "wow" about living in New Orleans, but now it is more like, "wow, I can't believe I live in New Orleans!!" I never imagined leaving San Diego and I am so glad I chose this program to experience something so very different from what I know.

The Pharmacology program itself is very interesting
and I have definitely learned a lot, sometimes more
than I think my brain can handle! This picture here

is at the BioMedical Reception. It was super fun and a very relaxed enjoyable experience getting to meet everyone else from the other programs and hanging with my own fellow pharm classmates. It was a good night!