When I first started this class, I came in with no expectations. All I knew was that I was taking a biology class and that I was getting lab credit for it in a month. And as a result, I was not prepared for what the class was about to bring.
Listening to the first lecture, I was completely overwhelmed and in shock of the workload and the amount of effort I would have to put in for the class. Looking at the syllabus and the uploaded presentation slides, I was amazed that the professor expected us to know this enormous amount of information in one month. I felt like it was hopeless and I was stressed.
However, as I continued to take the class, Dr. Klepach kept putting focus and our attention to keeping a low stress level and taking care of ourselves as well as our academics. When I first heard this, I thought it was a ridiculous idea. I thought there was no way I could keep my stress low while trying to retain all this new information and stay up to my own academic standards.
A week and a few days in, I found out I was wrong.
I realized that there was need for me to be stressed and anxious all the time about my grades. I had the ability and capacity to learn and retain the required amount of information and I was doing well in the class. Dr. Klepach’s constant reminders to keep a low stress level and focus on our bodies finally made sense to me. I realized that there was no need to beat myself excessively over every quiz and every assignment and that I had the capacity to excel without being on the verge of an anxiety attack.
Through this class, I learned a valuable life lesson as well as anatomical names and physiological functions. Although dissecting a cow heart was fun and the new knowledge will come in handy, I will most be grateful about Dr. Klepach’s constant reminders. I hope that I can carry this mindset on with me into my future classes and take more of what he said about taking care about our bodies into action.