April blog

 Service hours this month: 6

Service hours this semester: 12

This past Friday after our final Cell Control exam, I completed my service hours by spending another day volunteering at Giving Hope Food Bank in New Orleans East through Second Harvest. I was glad that I was able to spend more time helping our community by distributing food to those who need it. Food is such a big part of the culture of New Orleans, and no one should have to worry where their next meal will come from. I always enjoy getting to talk to new people, and it was a rewarding experience helping others in such a meaningful way. After completing my service, I took the rest of the weekend to relax now that we are done with exams. I was able to go to Jazz Fest Sunday with a couple friends, and we had a great time. I’ve been going to Jazz Fest since I was a kid when my mom would bring me, so it is nice to see a New Orleans tradition return following the pandemic.

As our master’s program comes to an end, I am excited to see what the future holds for all of my classmates.  It was great getting to know everyone, and I hope that our paths will cross again in the future. Overall, I really enjoyed the program, and I know that our backgrounds in pharmacology will be invaluable in medical school. I am looking forward to graduation and taking some time off this summer to relax before medical school. I’ll wrap up this blog by thanking all of our professors and administrators at Tulane for their support throughout the year, I appreciate the time and effort put in the ensure the program runs smoothly.

Until next time,

Garth

March Blog

Service hours this month: 6

Total service hours: 6

 

As we reach the end of March, we have less than a month of classes to go. The NBME exam will be a good test of our knowledge to end the program. I am glad to review everything we have learned because I know that I do not remember all of it (haha). I am looking forward to graduation at the end of May and taking some time to relax this summer.

Earlier this month, I volunteered through Second Harvest at Giving Hope NOLA Food Pantry in New Orleans East. I worked there 9am-3pm along with other volunteers and employees. We began the day by unloading and storing palettes of food from delivery trucks. After that we packaged food together into boxes so that they could be distributed later (picture attached below). For the rest of the day, we helped load the boxes of food into the cars of those picking them up. Food pantries like this one provide a very important service to our community, and it felt great to know that I was helping a good cause. I always enjoy getting the chance to meet new people in our community. I haven’t figured out what I will do for the rest of my service hours in April, but I may decide to volunteer there again.

February blog

Service hours: 0

 

As February comes to an end, we are in the full swing of Mardi Gras in New Orleans. I spent Friday resting after our neurology module exams that morning. Saturday night I was able to go to Endymion to see friends who rode in the parade. I plan on spending Mardi Gras Day tomorrow watching the parades uptown. One of my roommates and long-time friend is planning on proposing to his girlfriend tomorrow on the parade route, so I am hoping for more good weather to celebrate. I am glad to see life in New Orleans slowly return to normal following the pandemic, and I hope that we don’t see a large surge in cases following this week.

I plan on spending the rest of our break relaxing with family and friends, but I will also use the time off as an opportunity to serve our community. I am signed up through Second Harvest to volunteer this Thursday from 9am – 3pm at Giving Hope Foodbank in New Orleans East. I am looking forward to this opportunity to help others who are less fortunate. Food is such an important part of our health, and no one in our community should have to go hungry.

I also received some exciting news this month that I have been accepted into this year’s medical school class at LSU New Orleans. I am very grateful for my acceptance and can’t show enough thanks for my friends, family, and professors who have supported me through the process. Here at Tulane, it seems like the time has been flying by as we now have less than two months until our med pharm NBME exam. I have learned a lot through our classes this year, and I look forward to learning more as we wrap up the semester.

January blog

 Service hours: 0

 As January comes to an end, our spring semester is off to a running start with the endocrine module ending last week. This year has been moving fast, and it is crazy to think that we only have three more months of class. 2021 was another crazy year, but we’ve made it through. I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays and started 2022 on a good note. I am looking forward to being back in person with my classmates starting this week after our Zoom break due to Covid. It seems that the omicron variant is on the decline in New Orleans, and hopefully the worst is finally behind us. Between Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest, and countless other events, spring in New Orleans has a lot to offer; and I hope that everyone gets a chance to enjoy it safely. Having lectures on Zoom is ok, but I will be glad to be back in class. I have been learning a lot from our new classes this semester such as neuro pharm, endocrine pharm, and environmental signaling. I am excited to begin the reproductive module. I took a class on reproductive physiology in undergrad, and it was one of my favorites. I have not done any community service yet this semester, but I enjoyed the service work I did in the fall. I am looking forward to helping our community again this semester and hope that we can organize a group service day as a class through an organization like Habitat for Humanity. We are on the home stretch of the program now, and I hope we can finish off strong!

November blog

 

Service hours this month: 6

Total service hours: 12

    For my November blog, I wanted to reflect on Thanksgiving and the service work I did last week. I enjoyed my time off, and I am looking forward to finishing up the semester over the next couple weeks. I spent Wednesday volunteering at Jesuit High School to help with the Thanksgiving drive. I graduated from Jesuit in 2015, and the Thanksgiving drive is an annual tradition for students and alumni. Entire Thanksgiving meals are bought, packaged, and delivered to hundreds of families in need around the New Orleans area. My graduating class raised money to feed 30 out of the nearly 600 total families this year. On Wednesday morning, my former classmates and I worked to organize the meals and package them together, making sure every family got what they needed. After that, we loaded the meals into our cars and drove around the city in pairs to deliver the food. My friend Mark and I delivered food to five different families. 

    I enjoyed talking to each family, and it’s a great experience to be able to help people in such a direct way. Helping others is something that is important to me, and it is one of the main reasons that I want to be a physician. I spent my Thanksgiving eating good food, watching football, and relaxing with family. I am thankful for everything that I have, especially my friends and family. Volunteering for the Thanksgiving drive makes me appreciate these things even more. Thanksgiving is a special holiday, and I am glad to have helped make sure that others who are less fortunate were able to enjoy their Thanksgiving dinner as well.

October blog

 

Service hours: 6

 

For my October blog, I wanted to write about the time I spent yesterday doing service work. I volunteered from 9am to 3pm through Catholic Charities to help with Hurricane Ida cleanup in Lafitte. Lafitte was one of the hardest hit areas by the storm, and two months later much of the area is still recovering from the effects of Ida. I met the head of the operation at St. Anthony church in Lafitte, which has been distributing supplies to people in the community. She gave me a shovel, rake, and the address of where to go. I drove five minutes down the highway to the house of an older couple who needed help with cleanup. While I was driving, I noticed that many areas were still damaged or closed down. I met the family at their house, and they were very appreciative of my help. Their entire yard was still covered in a thick layer mud, including the ground floor underneath their raised house. Debris and personal belongings were still scattered around the yard. The family has not been able to move back in yet and instead has been staying in a hotel in Harvey. With the help of a small tractor with a front-end loader, we were able to clean out the mud and trash on the bottom level of their home. It was a long day of shoveling, but what stood out to me is the positivity of the people I met in Lafitte. Even with the severe damage, the residents were still thankful for what they have and were working together to make the slow return to normalcy. I am glad that I was able to be a small part of their recovery efforts.

 For my September blog I decided to reflect on my experience following Hurricane Ida. As someone who was born and raised in New Orleans, this was far from my first hurricane. My family decided to evacuate to Florida, and I met them there after the storm passed. First off, I just want to say how blessed that I am to be able to evacuate for a hurricane like this. I know that many people do not have the means to evacuate, and my heart always goes out to those that have to stay whenever a hurricane hits the city. The past two years I was working as an EMT during hurricane season (fortunately we did not have any storms this bad), but I am also thankful for our first responders who stay behind during times like these to serve the community. After driving all of Monday after the storm to meet my parents, I was listening to WWL in bed and couldn’t help but feel a sense of powerlessness while hearing reports of the damage, wishing I could do something to help those still in Louisiana. People in our community lean on one another for help in their time of need. I look forward to serving the community soon, along with my new classmates, to help those affected by the storm. I’ve seen the resiliency of Louisiana firsthand throughout my life, and I know that together we will build back a better New Orleans.