MicroJournal Entry #6 - Reflection

Today marks the completion of two months of Microbiology class. Over the past two months I have learnt useful information about microbes, their eating habits, metabolism, cell composition, and much more. I am learning a lot about the different ways of differentiating microbes such as using selective, differential and enrichment media. These techniques used by medical professionals everyday, as they encounter different illnesses in patients. 

I know this class and the information I've learnt from it, will be useful to me in my future career. For the immediate future, this class will be very useful when I begin my nursing program next semester. The experience gained here will help me as I do my clinicals and in the classrooms. What is taught in class does not conflict with any other classes I have taken but now I have a better understanding of diseases and what makes them affect us the way they do. It was also interesting to learn that antibiotics are most effective against microbes in the lag stage. 

I tend to sit in the front row during classes because I am a visual learner but I am open to all learning styles. Sitting up front prevents me from becoming too distracted in class. Labs also give me the hands-on approach and cements the information in my mind. One thing which is still somewhat confusing, though, is the protein synthesis process. I sometimes get the stages mixed. If there were a way to see bacteria undergoing protein synthesis, that would clarify the process for me. I no longer think of bacteria as a simple organism. I now understand they are unique and have special traits which differentiate them. As mentioned in my previous post, this class has positively impacted my life, especially since the experience my relative had.