Reflection 1: Glycolysis

I really appreciated revisiting glycolysis. When it was first introduced in intro bio, I truthfully had no idea what was happening. The pathway felt super confusing, and I couldn’t properly understand the sequence of steps, the enzymes involved, or what the products actually meant in a larger, full-body context. Relearning it now, with more background knowledge and context from other metabolic processes, almost felt like learning it for the first time. I was finally able to connect the reactions to real physiological functions and appreciate how central glycolysis is to energy production. What stood out most was realizing how frequently our bodies actually rely on it. It’s not just during exercise, but its constantly going in nearly every cell. It’s fascinating that such a seemingly simple pathway on paper is responsible for keeping us alive. Understanding it more deeply has definitely made me appreciate metabolism on an entirely new level.