We've Finally Begun! by Evelyn Thomas

​Hello everybody! As of now I have completed 5 weeks of TRIP and it has been truly amazing. In these couple of weeks, I’ve made so many new friends and I look forward to learning and growing with them. It is so cool to be around people who have the same interests as me and I have been able to learn so much from them. However, my true besties are the FLIES! Anyone who knows me personally knows that I am not an insect lover, so I never expected myself to get used to them so quickly. I remember the first day we worked with them and by the end of our 4 hours, I felt like they were crawling all over me, but now, after working with them for a couple of weeks, I’ve grown used to them and have begun to see how cool they actually are. 

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​This past Saturday, we started planning out our independent projects and it just made me realize that time is flying (pun not intended) by. I came in wanting to do a project relating to study drugs, like Adderall, and with the help of Dr. Gardiner and my peers, I was able to refine this idea to make it more interesting and unique to me. The question that I have decided to pursue is “Can Vitamin B12 help enhance memory? Additionally, can being more relaxed further help with learning and memorization?”

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​The reason I decided to choose Vitamin B12 is because it is in foods that I consume everyday, like fish, meat, eggs, and breakfast cereals. Because Vitamin B12 is such an essential part of my diet, and it is claimed to have effects on memory and cognition, I wanted to see if this supplement could truly help me in terms of memorization. In addition to that, as a student who takes high level courses, I always feel the pressure of school and grades. School and testing requires a lot of memorization and deep learning, and this kind of pressure causes a lot of stress. I’ve noticed that when I’m stressed and panicked, no matter how much I study and memorize, I don’t perform to the best of my ability which led me to my second question about relaxation and if that could also help with memory. 

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​I’m very excited to begin my journey with this topic and I hope I can obtain some meaningful answers to my question. Anyways, that’s it for now…..signing out!