Hello everyone!

I’m Raihaanah, a senior biology major and a research assistant here at GSU. I became interested in research after completing my associate’s and transferring to the downtown campus. I was initially interested in cancer research, but I was paired with a principal investigator in the neuroscience institute and became fascinated with neurodegenerative diseases. I hope to graduate this semester and enroll in graduate school within a year. I’m both excited and nervous about graduating because I’m taking a gap year.

This semester is interesting to say the least. I’ve never been in a service learning course before, but I have volunteered through GSU and other organizations. This class is nice because I get course credit for volunteering.

I’m excited to share that I’ve been partnered with the Dunwoody Nature Center! I’m super eager to learn about their programs and help them run them. The Dunwoody Nature Center focuses on conservation and has many educational programs that inspire the community to be stewards of the natural world. I’m not exactly sure what I’ll be doing there. Based on their survey responses and emails with Holly, I think I’ll help them run their educational programs, gardening, animal care, social media posts, and organizing materials.

The Dunwoody Nature Center is approximately 30 minutes from my house, which isn’t bad. It’s a little inconvenient because it’s in the opposite direction of campus, so I may not be able to make it to lab on my volunteer days. The most concerning thing is that I won’t be able to start volunteering until the week of March 11th, so I’m not sure how I’ll satisfy all the required hours or come up with a project proposal before the GSURC abstract deadline passes. Nonetheless, this is an exciting experience and I hope it’ll be a highlight of my undergraduate career!