Hi, My name is Shannon Hughes and I am a freshman from right outside of Philadelphia. I’ve always liked science. In fact my favorite class in high school was senior year Physiology, where we learned how the human body works. I thought the dissections we did were so interesting and I always participated in class discussions no matter how confused I may have been. I like science…I just don’t get it. I thoroughly enjoyed exploring all the muscles of a real-live (dead) cat, but I could never understand how the muscles moved, how nerve impulses worked, or the difference between muscle and fascia. In previous years, the laws of physics and chemistry made no sense to me, but the experiments were always cool. I like the fun facts of science, just not what’s behind them. This class is perfect for me because it will be filled with “fun facts” and although we may delve into the reasons behind them, we will do so in a way that will not leave me completely lost in the end.

In Physio last fall, I did a presentation on the polio virus and how it affects muscles and one article I read mentioned that now doctors are trying to create a way to treat brain tumors with the virus. I found it so interesting how someone somewhere had this idea to stick a deadly virus into someone else’s brain to kill an even deadlier illness. This crazy idea actually works now. I have come to learn that this method has been progressing immensely and you can read more about it here.