Check out this podcast episode where we had the opportunity to speak to pediatric orthopedic surgeon Dr. Kevin Smit about Vertebral Body Tethering (VBT) as an exciting new treatment opportunity for Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (AIS)!
The conversation centers around AIS, which is an abnormal curvature of the spine with no known cause, and can have a significant impact on the lives of its young patients. Dr. Smit is a part of inspiring new research on VBT, a developing treatment that could help preserve patient mobility while correcting the curve. Here, we discuss AIS and its impact, Dr. Smit’s recent collaborative pilot study on VBT, and what makes VBT such a unique and promising treatment.
To read his full study, click here. To listen to the podcast, see the Spotify link below or click here to listen to it on the BEaTS Radio podcast website!
Note: This video is a group assignment for the class TMM4950 – all the groups are in friendly competition for streams! While it’s not the usual content I post on my blog, I think it’s an interesting and fun podcast to share. Hope you enjoy!
Zolgensma is a miracle drug that helps treat infants with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) with just one dose – check out this video that I helped make to learn more!
Approved by the FDA in 2019 and Health Canada in 2020, Zolgensma is a revolutionary therapeutic innovation that has helped save many children around the world. With further research into drug development and patient care, its potential in future medical use is extraordinary.
Note: This video is a group assignment for the class TMM3104 – all the groups are in friendly competition for views! While it’s not the usual content I post on my blog, I think it’s an informative and cute info-vid to share. Hope you enjoy!
Studying and working is a chore to many, and that’s part of the reason why most people lose their focus when they get around to it. I’m sure we’ve all felt that boredom at some point. No matter how much you love the subject, and no matter how much you schedule your day, sometimes it just doesn’t work out.
“I don’t feel like doing it today… I’ll just get this done tomorrow.”
Sound familiar?
EXERCISE your Focus All Day
So how do we find the focus to sit down and learn? Believe it or not, focus doesn’t start with studying — you need it with you all the time.
It really does make sense: if you let your mind wander for the entire day, playing games and scrolling through social media, do you think it will listen to you when you tell it to focus at 6 PM after the entire day? (This doesn’t mean you can never have fun. Let me explain.)
Practice focus throughout your day; this includes your free time! Focus on playing that game for one hour, focus on reading that book, focus on finishing your food quickly. Once you teach your brain how to focus, once you start practicing it more often, you will see that it comes naturally to you when you actually sit down to get some work done.
Above all, enjoy what you’re doing in the moment — don’t dwell on what you could be doing/what you’re not doing. Then, when you start to study, your brain will enjoy it.
Social Media?
One stumbling block to focus is a huge part of our lives these days: social media. We can easily spend hours on all of the different sites these days without even realising. Many kids can’t even live without checking messages and information every few minutes — I see it happening before my very eyes, and I used to be guilty of that as well. Those apps (like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and Tumblr) are designed to keep people engaged. So how do you break free?
Set a daily limit on your account after 1 hour
Turn off notifications!
Exercise self control
Use another app for music (not YouTube!)
Find news on traditional news sites (perhaps even twitter, but no reposting!)
By following these rules, you’ll find that you have way more free time at the end of the day. You’ll also feel happier and probably even more energetic!
Above All, Take Initiative
In the end, it’s all about what you want to achieve. Embrace the joy of learning and bettering yourself throughout your life. The world is interesting — magical, even — so discover it through your hard work!
Now, before everyone comes at me, traffic on the highways does
not make me happy. It’s more about the time I get to myself during my
commute.
If you’re like me, you have a very long commute from home to downtown for one of two things: work or education. I live in a city where the highways get super congested — it actually ranks as one of the most traffic-congested cities in Canada. I recently found out that long commutes are a signature of North America, even though there are other places in Asia where it is common. It’s even becoming a part of European lifestyle for some.
I’m writing this in the morning while I’m on the road. I
have my earbuds in, listening to my favourite music, and doing one of my most
favourite things – blogging! I either sleep or do my homework on the bus. On
rare occasions when I don’t have much work to get done, I read, write or draw.
I understand the aggravation that people feel inching along beside the other
cars; I feel it sometimes too. But instead of complaining about the long way
and that being the only thing on your mind, do something productive instead!
Things to do on the highway:
Finish your homework! (You’ll thank yourself when you get home)
Self study to gain knowledge (Again, you’ll thank yourself in the future)
Read a novel (gain vocabulary and be sucked into another world!)
Draw (it may be bumpy, but I somehow manage)
Write (let your creativity flow!)
Watching Videos? (watch tv at home, and educational vids on the highway)
Meditate (relaxing is important!)
Self-reflect (make plans, solve personal problems, etc.)
Listen to music or a podcast
Sleep 🙂
I can do a lot of my favourite activities in the car because
a) I don’t drive and b) I don’t get car sick (I used to, but I forced myself
not to, if that makes any sense). But if you are driving, you can still do
important things. How often is it that you get to self reflect? Plan out your
day in silence? Listen to your music out loud without worrying about anybody’s opinions?
Great ideas always come when you least expect it. And how
can you get them when you’re always busy and your mind is cluttered with stress?
The early morning traffic jam is the best time to get yourself together and mentally
or physically jot down a few notes regarding your future plans or a new story.
Long story short, use your time wisely. A long commute is
one of the only times that you have completely to yourself. Utilise that time
to better yourself.
You’ve honestly probably heard this before: ask questions! It’s good for you! But I’m also going to present this from my perspective, one of a student that grew from a supremely shy kid into somebody that was confident enough to ask all the right questions to further my understanding of subjects in school.
Asking Questions Means Taking Charge of Your Own Learning
I grew up as a shy person. Even though I had the blessing of a welcoming environment with supportive friends and teachers (for the most part), whenever I went to parent-teacher meetings, the first thing that my teacher that year said would be “they’re so quiet”.
Other than being extremely shy, I was afraid to be laughed at by my classmates. At a young age, I knew that many people even silently judged my actions. I thought that I would ask stupid questions or give a wrong answer. So for a long time, I became self conscious and chose not to talk in class. I marveled at those that just made it seem so effortless when it came to questions.
But I’m here to tell you that isn’t the best way to think. If you have a question, ask away! As I grew up, I realized that the people that asked questions were usually the ones that were taking charge of their own learning. And in that way, they became smarter.
I also realized that people don’t really care if you ask a question — most people are grateful that you asked a question so that they could get it cleared up too.
If you’re still feeling iffy about asking questions, just try it out for one day, in one or two of your classes. You’ll probably see that your teacher will appreciate your contribution to the subject, and the class will as well. And, most importantly, you’ll feel better knowing the answer. But if all else fails, you can still see your teacher after class or during their break hours.
Being Curious Is Good!
I believe that being curious allows for creativity and is a gateway to inspiration and passion. Curiosity is good — I hope that nobody has ever told you otherwise. Question how the world works. Question the flaws of society. Question everything from atoms to giant stars, theoretical concepts to the thinking process of an author. Because questioning is how you learn, and learning is how you can better yourself.
Does that mean that curiosity has to be one of your main characteristics? No, of course not! (But if it is, good for you!) But ask questions about the subject that you’re passionate about. And don’t let anything stop you from taking charge of your learning.
When I met my kindergarten teacher for the first time, I didn’t ever want to leave the school — I still distinctly remember that fond memory.
As time passed, I met new people and became a new person. But one of the biggest factors to my development (emotionally, mentally, physically, and academically) has been my teachers. I feel like I was always super lucky — blessed, even — to have the best teachers for all my different stages of life. I was just thinking about how thankful I was to every one of them. They are a source of my happiness and improvement.
I have had many, many teachers. They were all unique in their own way. I still have connections with some of them, but with others regretfully not. I’ve lived in a few cities and had to adjust to various school environments. But I had help along the way.
One thing that I loved was that instead of just teaching us academically, all of my teachers taught my class and I proper behavior, responsibility, patience, and kindness. They were exceptional role models. My teachers loved their job very much, and through that, they infused in me a quality that I still have to this very day — my love for learning. I cannot express how important I believe it is to have a teacher invested in their job, nurturing and encouraging children to reach new heights, explore new topics, and overcome their fears.
I was able to perform two Shakespeare plays in elementary school (an unabridged version of Hamlet and and abridged version of Romeo and Juliet), thanks to two very dedicated teachers. I’m sure that it was difficult to organize us. But through that, I learned Shakespearean language, literature, and the lifestyle of the time.
In grade 8, I had a teacher that I felt was just as happy as us to go to school everyday. She constantly searched for enrichment opportunities — helping out other classes, helping the office, and letting us take the lead for fundraisers. She celebrated all of our birthdays, so we celebrated hers as well. In between our lessons, tiring (but fun) gym classes, and quiet work periods on fabulous projects, she would take pictures and videos of us. Over time, she printed out those pictures and we put them up on our classroom door. By the end of the year, it was full. And on top of that, she put together a video longer than an hour of our pictures and videos as a goodbye present.
And that was one of the years that I truly felt my love for biology — we had to work in partners and take one of each of the body systems to give a full presentation about it — anatomy, physiology, and pathology! Not to mention a full body sized diagram (it took quite a while drawing all those veins and arteries). And we also had to write a report on cells, exploring every part of them (in the end, I wrote 40 pages because I had so much fun learning about them).
Looks like I went on a tangent there. I wish I could write about all my teachers, but then you’d all be here reading about them for at least five hours! (That wasn’t even half of what I wanted to say about my grade 8 teacher.)
Anyways, I hope you all read this and wonderful memories of childhood pop into your head. Do you all have a teacher (or teachers) that hold a special place in your heart?
Many of us are students that need to learn things fast. (If you’ve ever been in the position where there are three projects and 4 tests that you have to check off of your to-do list in just one week, you know what I’m talking about.)
So I think it would be nice to have a space where you can come for some advice or comfort. Here I’m going to be sharing studying tips, skill sets, motivation, and resources. I hope you’ll like it!
School is starting soon (and for some it may have already started, depending on your age and country). The first step is to always start with a positive mindset. Set goals for yourself this year. Join more clubs, or focus on your studies more. Think about what you want to accomplish this year. Nothing is too hard with the right attitude!
I know that this may sound like just what your teachers or parents say, but it really is true. If you put your mind to something, and you have the right motivation and determination to achieve it, you can totally do it!
Starting is the hardest part. This holds true for everything. if you start studying well, it will become a habit, and then a lifestyle.
So, to recap: for most, schools are just about to start or are already in their first few months of lessons. The fall semester for universities start around this time as well. I hope this part of my blog can grow with everybody through the year. It will always be here for you with an ever growing amount of posts that can help you along the way.
Momo's Musings 