MEDS 3015 Study Abroad
In the Footsteps of Louis Pasteur
During my freshman orientation almost three years ago, I was discouraged by an academic advisor to pursue a DAAP minor along with my already rigorous Medical Sciences degree. It made sense to concede at the time- professionally, there was no overlap between the two degrees, and I already knew I would be staying at UCCOM for medical school. On that same day, I first heard about this course from an upperclassman presentation and have desperately wanted to take it ever since. The intersection of science and art is something I have been trying to grasp since I was a young student. Even though I knew I was interested in medicine and thoroughly enjoyed my science courses, all of my spare time was spent working in the arts. I pursued theater, digital art, filmmaking, and creative writing all throughout my middle and high school years, and have deeply and intimately felt the absence of being able to properly study these subjects in college.
Creation and discussion of art is how I understand and interact with the world around me. It is how I connect with strangers and argue with friends. It allows me to think critically about society and where the future is headed. Over summer breaks, I would work at the David J. Spencer CDC Museum as a counselor and educator, which flamed my curiosity for scientific history and instrumentation. In my dedication to fruitful discussion of art, science, and current events, I created an art and society centric account on social media during the pandemic to encourage my own lost creative exploration with friends and strangers. These are conversations I genuinely enjoy having because I have found it is easy, dangerously so, to become trapped in one’s own academic bubble- only engaging in conversations with people who know the same things and think the same way. The material covered in this class is not typical of a pre-medical course, but I believe it is integral to learn about the foundation and at times morbid history of this often romanticized field of study. During this class, I had new, rewarding discussions with my peers who are entering with different background knowledge and experiences about the visionaries and events we studied.
Creation and discussion of art is how I understand and interact with the world around me. It is how I connect with strangers and argue with friends. It allows me to think critically about society and where the future is headed. Over summer breaks, I would work at the David J. Spencer CDC Museum as a counselor and educator, which flamed my curiosity for scientific history and instrumentation. In my dedication to fruitful discussion of art, science, and current events, I created an art and society centric account on social media during the pandemic to encourage my own lost creative exploration with friends and strangers. These are conversations I genuinely enjoy having because I have found it is easy, dangerously so, to become trapped in one’s own academic bubble- only engaging in conversations with people who know the same things and think the same way. The material covered in this class is not typical of a pre-medical course, but I believe it is integral to learn about the foundation and at times morbid history of this often romanticized field of study. During this class, I had new, rewarding discussions with my peers who are entering with different background knowledge and experiences about the visionaries and events we studied.