This October has been an interesting month thus far in my New Orleans journey. I have begun to work in a research lab, volunteered a little bit, and did some shadowing this month. I'm definitely excited to get back into a lab and to start doing research again. I have definitely missed being apart of a lab group, and am looking forward to learning new techniques! As for volunteering this month a few classmates and I decided to volunteer for the sweet potato fest at a a local school. To be honest, this volunteer experience was probably the most fun I have had since I moved up here in June. We got to interact, and play with community students, as we worked at a smoothie station. This was pretty unique in my opinion because the students actually biked to produce their smoothie. The school had a bike rigged up to a blender so if you input energy then you'd get a well blended smoothie. It was really entertaining to watch kids drink a sweet potato smoother... I was thoroughly impressed at how many of the kids actually somewhat enjoyed the somewhat blended concoction. During my break I was able to experience some of the festival by trying all different types of sweet potato dishes that ranged from sweet potato salsa all the way to pizza.

My last unique experience this October was being able to shadow a general surgeon. I've always knew that I have been most interested in a surgical field as I love to work with my hands, and put together puzzles. It was extremely satisfying and reaffirming finally being able to watch a procedure in real time, and see the teamwork that is associated in such a miraculous task.

See you in November,

Pierce Spencer

October hours 4.5
Total hours 13