Reid walks the hills of Colby Campus as he muses about his time in Surgical Interventions + Biomedical Engineering, and looks forward to his next session at EXPLO. He discusses the bittersweet feeling of saying goodbye to friends, the excitement to meet new ones, and his interests in the medical field.
Would you tell me your name, Concentration, and if you could travel anywhere, where would you go?
My name is Reid. I'm in Surgical Interventions + Biomedical Engineering. And if I could travel anywhere, I think I would want to see Rome.
Why Rome?
There's just a lot of history there. A lot of what we base our current society on started there. The architecture is beautiful and really old.
Can you tell me a little bit about your Surgical Interventions final project?
Our final project was to make a presentation about different aspects of an aortic valve replacement, and we had to present it to an MIT professor. We basically had two weeks of studying and then preparing to show our specific aspect of the valve replacement. My group worked on the actual surgical implantation of the valve.
What I liked about the Concentration was that even in as narrow of a topic as an aortic valve replacement, there are still so many different focuses. Within that, there's the surgical implant, making sure the engineering is right, making sure the blood flows correctly. I probably couldn't name them all, but there are so many different focuses.
What brought you to EXPLO this summer, and why did you choose this concentration?
My mom actually went to EXPLO. A while ago. She was telling me how awesome the experiences were and how it's great it was for college preparation. She said, "It looks good, it's fun, you get to make new connections..." and I thought it was a great idea, especially since I used to go to camp for the summer when I was younger.
Did it live up to what your mother told you?
And more.
What were some of your favorite memories?
Playing football on the quad. Battling it out on the gridiron was a lot of fun. The homies in the living group time were great because we built great connections together.
What did you do during living group time?
We had great conversations all the time. We really got to know each other. We played card games. We just did anything fun and spent a lot of time together. We all bonded right from the start.
Do you have anything in common besides your Concentration and your interest in that?
A lot of us play sports. We all want to be knowledgeable about what we're talking about, but we all like trying new things. There are multiple instrument players. There are multiple people who speak different languages. It's just a great group of people.
What plans do you have for your time here?
I'm going to try to get as many memories as I can with these people. I'm actually going to be here next session. It's gonna be a whole new crew of people, which is happy, but it's also sad. I built all these connections. Now I have to start from ground zero, so it's exciting, but also sad to have to say goodbye to everyone.
As you transition from one session to the next, is there anything you would change?
I think I have a really good balance right now. My main goal is to broaden my perspective on the medical field. First I was able to look at Surgery and Biomedical Engineering. Next session I get to look at something different with Medical Rotations. So it's a great way to see what all the different options are. I'm excited to meet as many new people as I can, establish more connections, and keep up the flow of balancing school, homies, and fun.
Will Walawender