#1 Blog Post: 8.30.21

     Who am I? Well I can state the obvious first. My name is Courtney Jones and I grew up in the city of Shawnee, KS. The next question posed, "where do you hope to go?" is very simple but the answers are never so. We've been asked this question since elementary school but as I got older the answer varied from professional chef to professional athlete to whatever the most exciting new adventure was at the time. While I am certainly no professional chef, one thing I do know is that life doesn't ever go according to plan. The things we dreamt about as kids may fade, but we're still focused on becoming something. It's interesting to find the question asking about "hope" instead of "want." Want is a desire, wish, longing while hope is the feeling of trust. People can want an abundance of finances or want to be successful in life but hope is not tied to a particular outcome rather the belief that there is potential for something good to happen. So really it's this concept that drives both what I'm passionate about and where I hope to go. I hope to provide healthcare to the neediest in their communities, both at home and abroad. I hope to take the skill sets that I have acquired to make a difference for people who otherwise might never have even basic healthcare services. I hope to do more than just talking the talk, but actually walking the walk and finding a way to give back to communities all around the world!

     My passion for understanding and helping others is part of what drove me to take this course. I was enthralled by the aspects of evolution that related to and influenced human health and diseases. Specifically, how human populations exhibit differences in the prevalence of many common and rare genetic diseases. These differences are largely the result of the diverse environmental, cultural, demographic and genetic histories of modern human populations. On one hand, we have medical research which provides important information about disease trends and risk factors, outcomes of treatment or public health interventions, etc. On the other hand, we have an evolutionary viewpoint that pushes the focus out further to look at long term ecological relationships, including parasites and pathogens, historical lifestyles, and genetics of populations. So how is all of this related to our daily lives? While evolution has not traditionally been considered to be an important aspect of medicine, there is a mutual benefit in these two fields exchanging and partnering up their respective fields. Helping explain medical conditions, better understanding of present-day ailments, and improving overall health care. Ultimately, the range of overlap is quite broad and potentially invaluable to future research! I hope throughout this semester I am able to build a better understanding of how medicine is related to evolution and broaden my overall knowledge of evolution beyond the basic theory "natural selection!" 

    
    

Comments

  1. Madison ZimmermanAugust 31, 2021 at 8:49 AM

    Hi Courtney,
    First off, I love the name of your actual blog! I can tell you are very creative with writing. I agreed with your statement of answering the question "where do you want to go?" is not an easy answer. It is amazing how everything changes so fast. We start of wanting to be astronauts and football players, then we actually have to make a decision. It feels like we should know exactly where we are headed, but that is easier said than done. I also related to your statement of healthcare desires. I would also like to pursue healthcare and ensure care for the neediest in the community and provide quality care to all. Especially in times like now. We need healthcare professionals who are passionate and want to help. Connecting evolution to medicine is so important. When people can make connections to better explain medicine and research, real progress can be made.

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  2. Kate OSeptember 1, 2021 at 2:05 PM

    Courtney,
    I love your explanation on where you hope to go... very insightful (also your blog name is very creative and I love it!!) I also think your hope to provide healthcare abroad is very interesting. Where do you hope to go? I also really appreciate your holistic view of healthcare and science brining in the idea of ones environment including culture, demographics and genetics. I cannot wait to read more of your blog posts this semeseter!

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  3. Dayton RainesSeptember 3, 2021 at 7:21 PM

    Hey Courtney,
    You have a wonderful style of writing, first of all, and I really enjoyed reading this post! I really appreciate your perspective on the connections between evolution, culture, disease, and your desire to help out in-need communities, especially in how they are affected by pathogens. That is super admirable! I hope to do something similar, but from an environmental and permacultural approach rather than medicine. Oh, and I'm also from Shawnee, so cheers to Shawtown!

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