October 2018

I can't believe that 2 months have gone by in the blink of an eye! This month has been very eventful for me. We had our third module exam last week, and with each new module the material grows more and more challenging. Luckily, working hard and putting in those long hours has been paying off as I am able to keep up with the material. The Pharmacology program here at Tulane is very rigorous and the hours needed to fully understand the material has given me a newfound respect for medical students. Thankfully, with each hour of studying I am becoming better and faster at retaining the material.

In between my time studying, I was able to volunteer at the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) walk/run for education. The walk raised over $85,000 to help provide scholarships to students in low income families. It was very meaningful to volunteer in something that would provide educational opportunities to others. As they say, "A mind is a terrible thing to waste, but a wonderful thing to invest in", and I was more than glad to invest my time in supporting this worthy cause. In addition to volunteering at the UNCF walk for education, I was also able to volunteer at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore. The ReStore sells donated materials at affordable prices to raise funds for the various Habitat for Humanity programs. While I was there I was able to meet Ritch, who is one of the floor managers, and he told me that last year the ReStore raised over a million dollars to help fund the construction of 30 houses in the New Orleans area. At the ReStore I helped load and unload donated furniture, organized the floor area, and assisted with helping customers locate the items that they were looking for. We had an older woman come into the store looking for window blinds. As I was moving her cart to back, I noticed that in her cart she also had window shades. I politely asked her did she also want to buy window shades, since she only mentioned purchasing blinds, and she said, "no no sugar, I don't want shades, just blinds." Then I kindly showed her that in the cart she had several shades mixed in with the blinds and she was so grateful that I caught her "silly mistake." It was truly enjoyable being able to interact with the customers and I definitely will be volunteering again at the ReStore before the program ends!

October hours: 17
Cumulative hours: 21