Honors Contract

Cell Biology - Neurofibromatosis

I decided to complete an honors contract for my cell biology class back in 2023. I worked with my professor and we planned on my honors credit being fulfilled through researching a disease of my choosing, then presenting to him along with my family members on a zoom call. I took a particular interest in Neurofibromatosis, as that was the disorder I was doing research on in my lab at the time. For this project, I conducted hours upon hours of research to take a deeper look into the cellular level of Neurofibromatosis and how those changes impact the body physically and behaviorally. The Powerpoint presentation can be seen below - since it was presented, the slides themselves do not have a lot of information on them and most of the content was memorized.

Reflection

This was personally my favorite honors contract I've done. Most other honors contracts I do are papers which I think limits me. I was pushed a little out of my comfort zone with presenting because I do not get to do it that often, but I actually really enjoy it. I also appreciated the opportunity to incorporate what I was working on at my job at the time; being able to connect content I learn in class to the real world felt fulfilling. My mom loved hearing about my project even though she's never been super interested in science!

This was a great honors experience and helped me develop both my research and presenting skills.