November - Gobbling It Up

Volunteer Hours: 
September: 4 Hours LASPCA
October: 0 Hours 
November: 6 Hours Heart Walk + 5 Hours GOTR
Total Hours: 15 Hours 

Oh November!! The time to be thankful and filled with joy. This month has really showed me how to get the hang of studying and managing my time. 

New Orleans is known for their many festivities and walk events. I got the opportunity to volunteer at two of the many events. In early November, there was a walk for the Heart Association. I helped setup the event at 6:30am, unloading cases of water, bringing in donated food, and help participants take photos at the photobooth stop on the trial. I met a lot of participants that work in the hospital who promotes the healthy living lifestyle. Also, one little special man who just received a new heart and is doing strong. After the walk, I helped clean up by disassemble the tents and pick up in floating trash, we finished about 1pm. The event was truly eye opening, on the daily reminder to keep your heart healthy by just doing a daily walk. 

Another event I volunteered for is Girls on The Run 5K, this event is to promote girls of New Orleans to be more confident, caring, healthy, and learning critical life decisions. The run was filled with girls from all over the US, but mostly locals. We arrived at 8am to help setup in Audubon Park by unloading tables and food from the UHAUL, setup tents for the local schools, and sign-in volunteers as they were coming in. The event was truly great allowing a girl to be strong and confident in who they are as a person and the amazing support the city is willing to offer any girl. 

Besides finishing up all my volunteer hours, I really got the hang of studying for the block exams. We finished taking the CV Modul exam and that was a tough one, trying to learn the different arrhythmias and what drugs should be given in different cases. Then, we started on the Renal and Pulmonary Module, this is when I just had my meeting with Dr. Katakam. He said the best way that he like to learn the drug was creating a drug chart that he could put side by side to compare, help differentiate which drug would be used better. This is what I did, and I think that really helped me look at the drugs better. 

Overall, November has been great and spending it with great classmates, who have become amazing friends. I am looking forward for the next block exam and all the upcoming festivities. Let’s take on December!!

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