Musa Bayer is a freshman at Triangle Math and Science Academy in Cary, North Carolina. His areas of interest include biochemistry and technology, and in his free time, he enjoys playing soccer and learning new languages.
As someone who has not taken any PLTW courses or high school biology prior to taking Principles of Biomedical Science, I really have to work hard to catch up with the pace of the course. To understand the concepts in class better, I study the upcoming lessons beforehand so I have an easier time in class.
This has helped me build perseverance, which is very important in school and in life. Without a doubt, this class is a lot of work, but I have thoroughly enjoyed it.
What I like most are the real-life applications, which are absent from the other courses that I am taking. For example, when we were learning about diabetes management and treatment, we designed an innovation to help Type 1 or Type 2 diabetics.
I had never thought of myself as an innovator before, so when I was given this task, I felt empowered and inspired to be a medical inventor and solve real-world challenges.
I have come to realize there are a lot of young inventors out there, and that the sky is the limit as to how much we can accomplish, no matter how old we are.
This course definitely has changed me as a student and as a person. Now I think of myself as an active learner and global citizen in the 21st century, rather than a passive participant.
Because of this course, I have had more exposure to the engineering design process, which helps me to evaluate, communicate clearly, work collaboratively, and think critically. This is also an important tool that I can apply to problems outside of engineering. In our everyday life, we encounter numerous problems, and the engineering design process gives us a way to solve our everyday problems more effectively.
I have also developed an interest in the health care field, which I definitely would like to explore more. Now that I have had more exposure to the different career paths in the medical field, I can do more research and learn more about them to see which one I might actually pursue in the future.
This is something I did not expect when I first enrolled in this course.
To new PLTW students: Principles of Biomedical Science is worth taking. Whether you plan on pursuing health care or not, the skills that you will learn from it can be applied to other disciplines and life in general.
You need to be prepared to work hard and learn challenging concepts but, as I have learned, through hard work, perseverance, and guidance from your teachers, you can overcome challenges.
PLTW’s blog intends to serve as a forum for ideas and perspectives from across our network. The opinions expressed are those of each guest author.
