March 2021 Blog Post

 This month of March has been very busy for me. I registered for the MCAT in June. I am preparing to take the NBME Exam, in April. And I volunteered at a local Unitarian Church kitchen in the community, preparing and packaging food and water, and distributing box plates to un-housed individuals for Southern Solidarity to give strong support and help to my community.

 

 

I am thankful and honored to be around supportive and resourceful people who have a plethora of helpful knowledge. I feel like I am finally hitting my stride. I am humble and hard working, and I believe with the right amount of determination, anything is possible.

 

 I believe that strong leadership along with a balance of ambition will take me the next step. The big question is the "Why"? As in, "Why do you want to be a Physician?"There are a lot of careers that make money. So why a physician. But being a physician is special. To be a physician you have to have a lot of heart and compassion. Making sure you're in it for the right reasons. To be a physician you have to care about each person. To be a physician you will have to ask yourself this question consistently. Its the reason you get up every morning. Because you live inside your own self-rewarding principle. Its the warm feeling you get without reward that your doing Gods work.

You have to be empathetic and put the well-being of patient first. I know for myself, personally, Ive always been very ambitious. I care a lot about people. I am a people person. I just hope I will be in position to one day be a realm of light in someone's life and an impact person, and be able to save someone's life consistently.

Community Service Hours this Month: 5 hours

 

February 2021 Blog Post

 Its already the end of February. This school year is moving right along. For the month of February, I started reviewing my MCAT books and MCAT flash cards that I got. I spent most of my Spring Break/Covid-19 Mardi Gras studying for the MCAT, for several days to give myself a good jump start reviewing concepts for the Entrance exam. I am taking it one step at a time. I am feeling my highs with the lows, so I can maintain a steady balance of homeostasis while preparing. My strategy is to study a little bit every day in between classes, so I will be familiar with the information by the end of May when I plan on taking the exam.

February has been a month of reflection for me. I am now learning how everything comes together beautifully, from endocrine to neuropharmacology to cellular control signaling. Medicine truly is interesting, especially putting together what you already know, with new information, and building. I find it all relevant. Its phenomenal when you know friends and also family members who have certain ailments discussed in class, and now you understand the physiology and pharmacokinetics of how to treat these people, and how the drugs work. I feel it all amazing as it comes together and unravels in real time.

This month I decided to work with and volunteer with under-represented elderly people in the city with the Culture Aid Nola, COVID-19 mobile van. I volunteered a few hours of my weekends to interact and assist with COVID-19 testing and with the Check-Ins. I met some amazing senior citizens,  who were all optimistic, enthusiastic, and had warm personalities, who were all trying to stay safe from COVID-19 risk in their communities. It felt awesome to relate to these people and identify with my community. I sat at the table, and offered my service to help lift any boxes and answer any questions they might have about COVID-19 options locally, like where to get local assistance for things like nutrition, vaccines, and things of that nature.

 

 

Volunteer Hours: 2

January 2021 Blog Post

 Its been an exciting new year in 2021. Its still in the heart of COVID-19. We have a new president in Joe Biden. I was happy to be one of the first people to receive the 1st dose of new PFizer vaccine. As the Pandemic moves on, I think people are learning to adjust to the new normal that is what were facing. I know that some people might not see the vaccine until 2022 or beyond, so to receive the 1st dose in January of 2021 is a true blessing.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iihc6JtMIdQ

 https://youtu.be/iihc6JtMIdQ

As far as classes, its been great.  This semester I am taking 18 hours, which is literally more classes than I have ever taken before in my life. I really enjoy our setup in Neuropharmacology class. It has the medical school feel to it already. I'm learning about the motor circuit of the brain and about how all the neurotransmitters are processed. Classes started earlier for us on the 7th of January, this semester. I am making sure I start strong. I developed my study schedule and study habits over the course of last semester, so I am feeling more confident in myself. I know that this semester we have to take the shelf exam, but I am prepared for it. I am always optimistic and positive no matter what. I always approach life with a positive attitude because I believe that is how you are going to receive your blessings: Self-love wins every time. In order to maximize my potential I have to be diligent and headstrong. 

 

 

Volunteer Hours so far Spring Semester: 0

November Blog

 

This month, I volunteered over 12 hours of community service at a non-profit grass roots organization called Southern Solidarity. I also wrote letters to my Dream catchers Pen Pal, in the months of October and November.

 

 As far as the organization Southern Solidarity,  they do a lot of good work locally for the community, they supply sanitation supplies, food and clothing to the homeless in Downtown New Orleans. I volunteered on Thanksgiving Day, filling box prepped meals and I was also able to be the lead driver for distribution of meals.  I really enjoyed helping out the community, and I have been blessed to work with a lot of genuine people who have a heart of giving and helping other people sincerely from their hearts. I assisted in filling plastic containers with turkey, soups and food. I also passed out water bottles and bought water bottles from Rouses Supermarket using my own resources. 

 

Southern Solidarity is a fairly new nonprofit organization that aims to  fill in the needs of individuals who have not garnered all the life support they need who have been displaced directly or indirectly from COVID-19. Its aimed and geared at helping those less fortunate in the community, started during the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic through local volunteers, like myself.  This program is important because many people in the New Orleans area are living under the poverty line, and have been directly affected from Covid-19 making their already dire situations even more challenging. 

 

Bringing light and action to these issues and supporting the community in the notion that, "Together, we will get thru this", It will keep New Orleans going strong in the right direction.

Regarding classes, I have been improving in a lot of areas. I think I have a great grasp on how to go about studying  for the exams. I made great strives this month and plan to keep going strong to maximize my potential. I am looking forward to Winter Break, to catch up on some good R & R. And I will be ready and primed when class begin in January.

October Blog Post 2020

OCTOBER BLOG

For the past few weeks, I have loved this program more and more. I genuinely feel like this program and information I have been studying will drive my career forward, in Medicine. I have also found that using a learning objective information as a study guide is very helpful too as well.  For example, I began writing out the various clinical pathologies and then what drugs are used to treat each different one. I wrote my PenPal a letter for the months of October for DreamCatchers. I also donated food to Covenant House to volunteer at the local shelter and made an appointment. I will see what I can do Halloween day. I am also volunteering at a local food drive, potentially 2nd Harvesters and/or NOLA Ready to  help out the community in the aftermath effect of  Hurricane Zeta relief whether it be feeding the homeless, giving them help,  food distribution, or ride share for anyone who needs assistance getting around.

This week Hurricane Zeta made landfall, it was the first of the named storms that actually impacted the City of New Orleans, causing about 75% of Orleans Parish to go without electricity. Everything went dark around 6:30 PM, the night of the storm. It was like waking up to the zombie apocalypse. It just makes me think how really susceptible New Orleans really is to hurricanes, even with all the preparation and infrastructure in place, we are still one gust of wind away from looking like a third world nation. Somehow, hurricane preparation should be addressed better. I love New Orleans too much, I am so proud to call this place home, but we have to do better. 

I am focused on understanding the chemical mechanisms of actions for the different drugs. I also want to memorize the Renin angiotensin cycle because I know this will become useful as a Physician. My favorite part of learning this month has been in cell and molecular learning about gel electrophoresis and PCR, because it reminded me of my undergraduate at Louisiana State University where I did capillary staining for PCR in Dr. Warner's research lab.

 I am going to continue to volunteer tomorrow with Hurricane Zeta community service and help out in the community by volunteering my time and resources in assisting others in debris removal, cell phone powering or food drop off in anyway I am can.

 

 

 

 

Ikenna Onyenekwu's September Blog Fall 2020

 

September Blog

    I chose to write a letter for the Dream Catchers Initiative Pen Pal for Seniors. I know 2020 has been a roller coaster ride of a year, so people are always seeking people to help alleviate with every day anxieties and natural stresses.

     I was indecisive because I did not know what to say. Just like in everything I do, I always want to make a good initial and overall impression.  I found myself, here I am, a very ambitious pre-medicine student reaching out to a Senior (citizen). I was happy to connect at first because I have always been a huge people person. I make friends rather quickly because of my personality. So, I did, I wanted to share similar interests. When I first started writing I started out just  introducing myself. Then I moved forward with more present and relevant things, like the current events surrounding the pandemic.  Several of my fellow classmates also mentioned to me that they were interested in being a Pen Pal. So I said, that's a great idea. It was an awesome idea and a pleasure. The fact that I can get to know someone across the country who you know that their day might be made, simply by speaking to a young ambitious professional, is a great gesture and will go a long way universally. The opportunity to write a pen pal letter through a very prestigious  organization has provided me with great joy and humbled appreciation for where I am, and the ability to write and touch hearts and impact lives is a gift and a virtue. Ive mailed it off today, September 30th, and also sent an electronic greeting card, request.

    Accordingly, my overall experience with the Pharmacology program so far has been absolutely amazing. I am humbled and honored to be here. And also to share a class with a group of young diverse individuals, who all have the same lengthy career ambition as me. I admire that the class is a tight knit group where we can all work together  and mentor each other on our own strengths, and also hold each other up on areas we find confusing. 

 

Studying every day has been a great routine, which I am sure will prepare me vastly for the rigors of medical school. I also appreciate all of the faculty who genuinely care about our success in this program and are available both inside and outside of the classroom to help us understand the more challenging concepts. Reflecting after these two exam days, I feel confident in my ability to succeed in this program. I am looking forward to being the most improved individual and giving 100% effort and momentum in everything I do, I hope to bring pure joy in my experiences this year, and I pray I will be able to maximize my capabilities. I will continue to carry the pride of the program high as if it were the Olympic Torch.