Winter 2022
NEUSCI 301, PHYS 115, PHYS 118, HONORS 231, P BIO 499
NEUSCI 301
Taking my first course for the Neuroscience major made me both excited and terrified. But by fostering a growth mindset, doing tons of practice exams, and meeting regularly with my study group, I became increasingly confident in my ability to succeed. One of my favorite topics was synaptic plasticity, as it is relevant to the work I do in my lab and helped me think critically about the various mechanisms that are in play. Dr. Moody was also an incredible professor and I'm thrilled to be carrying on his legacy in neuroscience.
As for the labs, they were time-consuming because it took 3 hours to do the experiments and another 10-15 hours to analyze the data and write the lab report. But they were amazing in that we applied what we were learning in class, whether that be identifying phasic and tonic responses in cockroach leg sensory neurons, studying RC circuits, or observing the neuromuscular junction of a crayfish. The highlight of my quarter was when Dr. Moody showered me with compliments on my crayfish dissection, as shown on the left. Overall, I can't believe I got a 4.0 in one of the hardest classes at UW and I'm proud that I had such a strong start to the Neuroscience major!
PHYS 115/118
Although I had great study habits that I continued from PHYS 114, I had a rough start to the quarter in PHYS 115 because the first midterm was online and I didn't manage my time well on all the questions. So for the rest of the quarter, I focused on spending no more than three minutes per question when I was doing practice exams. It also helped that the concepts were more fun to learn like magnetic forces and ideal fluids. As a result, I scored well on the second midterm and final. I also found the lab component to be somewhat enjoyable, as we got to work with VR headsets and RC circuits. Regardless, I'm glad to say that I'm done with the physics sequence!
HONORS 210
The weekly reading reflections and engaging class discussions for this course completely transformed my perspective on the houselessness crisis and how we can abolish poverty. My favorite part was our community collaboration project, where I got to work with my peers and Real Change News to promote an educational event on social housing. Over 100 people in the Seattle community attended and I'm proud that we were able to spark discussions about such an important topic. Vicky, our wonderful professor and Honors Director, also became a close mentor of mine and I'm so glad I had the chance to take her last Honors course before she retires this year.