Welcome.

There are good ideas, and there are ideas that may or may not become good ideas. I'll let you decide which of the two this account is.

What I can tell you is that this will be where I post all the exciting and terrifying things I come across in my attempts to become a Naturopathic Doctor. I can also tell you that my upcoming research trip to Taiwan will be posted here as well. In fact, that may be the large majority of the content posted here for the next few months, as I am currently in my final semester of undergrad and will be leaving for a month-long stay in Taiwan at the end of December.

Along with another student and my research professor, we will be engaged in a broad spectrum of work during the trip ranging from drug characterization to drug discovery. Much of this work will be centered around the Zebrafish heart failure model designed by my professor, with the hopes of developing drugs for human heart failure. Alongside this work, we will be learning about traditional Chinese medicine through visits to local medicine shops, gardens, and even a couple of TCM schools. I am especially looking forward to this, hoping to get my N.D. as I am, but I'm also intrigued by the personal nature of this learning. My favorite example of this is that a good friend of my professor has agreed to show us first-hand how to prepare a medicinal meal geared towards fighting cancer. He learned these skills while taking care of his ailing grandmother. Now, in addition to opening his home to us for food and rest, he is passing on this healing knowledge. Honestly, I'm a dumbfounded by this level of kindness and generosity, particularly by its prevalence in the planning stages of this trip. It's very impressive, and I truly hope to reciprocate my gratitude.

Another great aspect of this trip is that we have planned many activities, but there is still some freedom for us to venture out on our own. I thoroughly plan to take advantage of this, as not doing so would be completely ridiculous. I haven't spent the last two months fighting to keep this program alive just to arrive in Taiwan and go with the motions. Along with my professor, this trip is very much a labor of love and determination - one that we hope to get the most out of. So pray that my memory stays sharp and my camera holds up while I'm there, because they're both going to be put through their paces.