October Check-In

 October has been busy and incredibly food-focused! This month has been filled with medical school applications, as I rushed to submit primaries and secondaries between our class exams. Our program has also started picking up in terms of difficulty. However, our professors have been extremely helpful in guiding us in navigating the tricky content material. I have also had the opportunity to do a number of social activities, getting more involved in the local community. I kicked the month off by going to a Vietnamese Moon Festival and the Fried Chicken Festival with some classmates. It was great to have a chance to interact with classmates outside of the academic setting, learning more about why we are all here. While the festival food iteself delicious, we all swore to never eat chicken again solely based on how much we had eaten that weekend...that is, until Subway had a discount on subs that same week...

One of the benefits of volunteering in a Teaching
Kitchen is sampling the merchandise! 

I have also made an effort to increase my service efforts within the community. I volunteered with Tulane's Teaching Kitchen, which I thoroughly enjoyed and hope to do again as more slots open up. My workshop focused on teaching Tulane OBGYN alumni about recipes that could benefit patients suffering from PCOS and menopause, among other gynecological concerns. I have a strong passion for food and the gut-brain connection, given my own struggles with my health. Having an opportunity to teach others about the values of nutrition was something that I am very grateful for and hope to continue to build on. 

Through BMSSA, I have also had the opportunity to meet students in other programs, which has been exciting. Since our program is small (which I appreciate in the academic setting), I appreciate the opportunity to meet more students who are similar to mine. In late October, we organized a Halloween cookie-decorating competition, which I ended up winning! The next day, we also had a pumpkin painting competition, where I was nowhere even close to competing with the skills of my fellow classmates. Still, it was fun to sip on some apple cider and connect with other STEM students, learning more about all the different programs Tulane has to offer. 

Round 2: BEEF!

I also volunteered at the local Poboy Festival, which was amazing. While I cannot say that my work there was as impactful as my other volunteer opportunities, I felt that it was the perfect way to immerse myself in the local NOLA culture. My role was to assist with food judging. I ended up taking a bit of an assistant-leader role, organizing each category, preparing voting sheets, and delegating sample retrievals to other volunteers. Of course, I had to try a poboy or two while there as well! In fact, I probably had at least 10 full poboys worth of leftovers by the end of the day. As I rolled out the door at the end of the day, I felt so grateful to be living in a city with so many unique experiences such as this. 

As I mentioned in my last blog, I am also trying to kickstart a mentorship program, partnering with existing nonprofit WeMADE, which is based in Luling. So far, we have successfully gotten a number of volunteers, including some fellow classmates. However, it has admittedly been a struggle to get mentees to commit to a zoom time with their mentors. As with most projects, the first month has been focused on ironing out the wrinkles. However, I hope to streamline everything in the next couple of weeks. Although there is still much work to be done, the head of the organization was incredibly impressed with my work so far and has even offered me a job within their organization. While I am extremely flattered, I want to think more on this decision before taking the position, as I want to ensure I have enough time to devote to the added responsibilities of the new role. 

In between all of this, I have also been helping Milton relief efforts in North Carolina and am starting to plan an annual holiday party that my family organizes for victims of sexual/financial/domestic abuse. We partner with an organization known as M.U.J.E.R. (Mujeres Unidas en Justicia, Educacion y Reforma) and throw a party in December for the 15 families with the most need. I first started volunteering with this project at 6 years old with my Girl Scouts troop. However, after my troop disbanded, my family continued the legacy, and I have taken more of a leadership role in organizing the event. It is something that I truly look forward to every year and it is the highlight of my December (probably more than Christmas)! As I mentioned, October has been busy! However, I hope that this is just the beginning and I cannot wait to continue to add on to everything that I have started this month. I feel very fortunate to be in a program that has given me the opportunity to hopefully one day earn the title of 'Doctor' both inside the classroom and outside of it through active community engagement. 

Volunteer Hours Breakdown:

Tulane Teaching Kitchen: 4 hours 

PoBoy Festival: 5 hours

WeMADE Mentor Program: 3 hours 

CUMULATIVE SEMESTER TOTAL: 14 hours