I was selected to be a Research Education Teacher for the PATHS UP program in conjunction with Rice University. Since I am based in Los Angeles, I jumped in on the opportunity to learn some new stuff. I was told that I will do some coding and mix it with some health concepts. Have you ever been to an art museum and looked at a piece of art that caught your eye? From a distance you see the image. Elementary school has taught us to appreciate the primary colors and how you can mix them. Drawing on millions of pieces of construction paper gave some the ability to draw what we see with some level of accuracy. So, having these tools in my tool belt, I can appreciate artwork on some level. Especially when you look at it from a distance. Its when you are able to look at a painting closely,that you see the details to make the painting. The brush strokes, the mixing of shapes to from new ones. I would saw to myself , “If I practice, I can do that!” Then you try and realize how much do you do not know and are now even motivated to learn more.
On day one, I counted the number of times I said to myself, I need to learn this . It was about 12.
Once I got over the initial shock and realized that support systems have been put in place and the people I work with are really nice and supportive, I relaxed and was able to continue to step out of my wheelhouse and learn some new stuff. Like many of my colleagues, I teach and support students of various socioeconomic statuses. Like education the value of health and health education fluctuates and varies. I have student who believed that cough syrup was the end all cure for everything. I have also had student who did not have access to anything. Their families often did not have access nor knew what was available to them.
On June 27th our cohort got to meet the Dr. Cote. The following slides are from his Zoom presentation.
It was after the presentation, that made me feel more focused on the role I played and the impact this work could have for the community. I am really for having wearable technology that can really help the betterment of man kind. I just want to make sure that with these new conveniences, skill sets will not be lost in the process.
I proposed the question the question of how universal would the data be between devices. I was concerned when it was mentions that our personal information can be implanted under our skin with a device the size of a grain of rice. all I could keep thinking was what happens when it moves? Or better yet, you will not need an iwatch soon. The cool part is that if basic information is stored, this could be useful. I wonder what would be the outreach plan to get people in their targeted communities to participate?
I now understand my role. It will take some effort on my part. Learning more Python and Machine Learning will be a challenge but I think it will be interesting . Machine Learning (ML) is a new to me. This following slide is from graduate student Tianyi Zhang illustraing the basics of ML.
My mother lost her battle to cancer on August 7, 2020. The option to help find classification markers for Breast Cancer patients is a direction I need to go. While my mother was in hospice in my home, I wished there was a more non evasive way to get baseline and daily results for her. She did not like needles due to her small rolling and collapsing veins. Nor did she like having her BP taken. It is very interesting how now I am on a project that can help the next person.
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