Well, since the world deserves to know of my awesomeness, I thought it might be time that I wrote another blog post. It's kind of been a while.
Making the decision to completely change my entire life and life's plan is really super scary. I've got so little to keep me here, and yet so much less anywhere else, unless you count hopes and dreams. I'm certainly rich in those.
So, for those of you who might not know, I had planned to go on to a Bachelor's in Education, with a double major in psychology. Then, I "discovered" neuroplasticity. Yes, that caught my attention. Stole it, you might say.
Reading up on neuroplasticity brought to my attention four people in particular.
Dr. Brenda Milner, a clinical neuropsychologist at the Montreal Neurological institute. Her work with patient HM, and her landmark discoveries regarding his unusual memory loss, are fascinating. What caught my attention more is that the woman is 92 years old and still loving what she does! Not that I don't ever want to retire, but when you find a field that captivates you in that way... well, I hope that I can spend my life doing something I love so much as to still be doing it at 92 years old!!
Barbara Arrowsmith Young, founder of the Arrowsmith Program for treating students with learning disabilities. I first learned of Young's work through Dr. Norman Doidge's book The Braint that Changes Itself. Young is a woman who took herself, through her own ingenuity and dedication, from multiple learning disabilities to a Master's degree. She then took the approach that worked so well for her, targeting individual difficulties through brain based exercises, and turned it into a patented methodology that has helped students with specific learning dysfunctions for the past thirty years.
Dr. Paul Bach-y-Rita, a neuroscientist whose work in the field of neuroplasticity, and more specifically, sensory substitution, has helped him help others whose lives were torn apart by stroke, sudden onset sensory disorders and congenital blindness. He is the perfect example of how fearless persistence in the face of dissent, wild imagination and outside-the-box thinking can lead to amazing advances in science. His work is not knowledge for the sake of knowledge. And it's not all about inventing chemicals to mess around in the brain and "help" people. From what I've read on him, his work takes the idea of the brains natural inclination toward achievement, and assists it in figuring out the direction to take to correct problem areas.
And finally, Dr. Michael Merzenich... pioneering scientifically tested brain based exercises to address normal loss of memory and function, to improve language skills in students, etc. And let us not ignore his greatest achievement to date; controversial though it may be, working with a scientific dream team to develop the cochlear implant.
I've always had an interest in psychology. I've always had an interest in language. While studying education, I had a lab science requirement which, through sheer curiosity, I decided to fulfill with an Anatomy and Physiology course. While I found the entirety of the material we covered fascinating, it was the section on the Central Nervous System which really drew my attention. It was a physical base for human behavior. Not only is it an amazing, delicate, intricate system, but, it has the potential to explain why and how we function; individually, socially, societally...
Between studying the anatomy of the brain, and the interaction between neurons, and learning that perhaps what we thought was so definite (functioning of specific neuronal regions) might not be (as demonstrated by various experiments in neuroplasticity) I finally decided to go for it. I dived into books like The Brain that Changes Itself and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (by the renowned Dr. Oliver Sachs). I began investigating various areas of neuroscience as a profession. I finally decided on neuropsychology. Having significantly more coursework in psychology than in science or math, I decided to shift my focus to neuroscience as a background. I will focus on that for my Bachelor's, with many more electives in psychology, I hope, and then combine my psychology and science backgrounds toward a PhD in neuropsychology.
I had always wondered why I oughtn't go to a fantastic school. A challenging school with an excellent reputation. So, in investigating my options, I set my sights on Johns Hopkins (for the PhD). But what an intimidating school for an undergraduate. They have relatively large, and notoriously competitive classes. While I don't mind working hard, studying hard and mastering incredibly difficult concepts (would I dare venture into this field if I did) the large class size (and Baltimore) hold no interest for me at present. If I am to develop the strong base of knowledge that I will need for this field, I feel that I would succeed much better at a smaller school. After much research and deliberation, I've set my sights on Colorado College.
1. Size. They are a relatively small school, which leads me to believe that I have a shot at personalized attention when necessary. That is, I prefer feeling welcome to discuss difficult concepts with my professors, rather than being brushed off because s/he has 300 students per lecture to deal with, and well, if all of them had questions... just go learn it... etc. I prefer the opportunity to build a rapport with my professors, as nothing is so valuable in a career as a strong professional network. And while they may be my professors now, someday, I hope, they will be my colleagues. And how much easier if they actually have a shot at remembering my face among the crowd.
2. The Block Program. The infamous block program. I know my own learning style. I know that I have a strong tendency to favor one course over another. It's only natural that some subjects would be more fascinating than others. I've noticed in my own education that, while I make great effort not to neglect courses, I also do have a tendency to work harder in those that captivate my attention more. I feel that the block program will provide me the opportunity to focus, wholly and completely, on the subject at hand, which will assure that each subject gets the attention it deserves. In this manner, I hope to actually retain the information that I've learned, beyond the final exam.
3. Colorado College has a reputation; one that is nothing to laugh about. This was not something of which I was aware when I began looking at the school. It was only when I began discussing this decision with various people (customers who teach at Middlebury, former Professors, and other people generally well versed in academia) that I came to understand just what that reputation was.
4. And finally, given the education I can expect from that school (which of course depends just as much on the effort I put in) and the reputation of the school itself, I feel that, of all the schools I was considering, Colorado College would be the best stepping stone toward acceptance at Johns Hopkins' Psychological and Brain Sciences program.
And so, it is with high aspirations, strong direction, and hoping really really hard that I get accepted, that I am picking up my life and heading west.
