Dissecting minds through neuroscience

in pursuing neuroscience in the future,” said Liu.

The club’s interactive events, as well as any other events they’ve held in general, make them unlike any other club.

“Our events give students an opportunity to have a first-hand look at the core concepts of neuroscience and club,” Liu said.

Diamond Bar High School’s Neuroscience club ended the year strong, hosting a meticulous and engaging brain-dissection event on April 20 in biology teacher Jessica Wai’s room.

The club held this occasion to give members an opportunity to work hands-on with a real brain, in this case, an authentic sheep’s brain bought from the scientific institute in Nebraska.

“Most of the time, people are only learning neuroscience from videos online or textbooks. But through this event, students got to dissect a real brain and see what’s inside and touch it with their own hands and learn more about the process that goes behind a dissection process,” junior club president Sarah Liu said.

Not only did the event teach the club members how difficult it would be to set up a brain dissection, but cleaning up proved especially grueling, heightening the importance of prior precautions and preparation for the dissection.

“Many students told me that the brain dissecting event definitely helped them confirm their interest

As of now, the club’s primary goal is to expand their network to external organizations. Liu hopes that in the future they can strengthen their informational database online, which is filled with sources to reference for students’ interests, neuroscience studies, and will help them prepare for competitions.

The Neuroscience club participates in one major contest called the Brain Bee, an international neuroscience competition. However, competing students struggle to find the resources to adequately prepare for this tourna- ment. To combat this problem, the club has started a video lecture series on YouTube for those students to build a strong opportunity of winning.

“I want to continue developing our resources online to help students study for competitions and to learn more online,” said Liu.

“Neuroscience Club hopes to expand on these online resources for our members and share them with students all across the world.”

I’ve learned a lot during my time in high school, more than just the academics. You often hear stories of high school “if onlys.” If only I didn’t spend so much time worrying about academics. If only I made more friends. If only. While I hold disappointment for some of the decisions I’ve made and didn’t, the one sentiment I don’t feel is regret. High school may have been more enjoyable without the integration and literary analysis, but the little moments of pure chaos, especially within the journalism room on Deadline Nights, will remain the high school highlights which I will fondly look back on decades from now.

One of the things I will always cherish about high school is the friendships I’ve made. Oftentimes,

I feel I don’t demonstrate just how much I appreciate these select individuals who have seen me at my best, but more often than not, at my worst. They’ve been there to celebrate my successes and to pick me up when I’ve fallen. They’ve taught me the importance of kindness, loyalty and acceptance.

Of course, high school hasn’t always been easy. There have been times when I’ve felt overwhelmed by the workload and frustrated by feelings of inadequacy. But these challenges have taught me resilience and perseverance. They’ve helped me to grow and to become a better person.

As I look back on my high school experience, I realize that it’s been a time of transformation. I’ve grown and changed in ways I never thought possible. I’ve discovered my passions and if I may be so bold to say, my purpose. Though my life has only really just started, there are memories from the last four years that I pray stay with me for a lifetime.

So, as I say goodbye to high school and prepare to embark on the next chapter of my life, I do so with a sense of gratitude and excitement, gratitude for the experiences I’ve gained and excitement for the adventures that lie ahead.

High school may be over, but my journey has only just begun.

story by Nataliah Yong design by Hilary Hui